Broken Promise: The Story of Ash's Pidgeot
by AmericanPi
Summary: The never-before-told story of Thunder, Ash's Pidgeot. A year has passed since Ash released Thunder in the Viridian Forest, and now, she decides to go on a search for Ash with Falkner's Pidgeot, Lightning. However, a mysterious teenage female trainer known only as Nature Hunter K is pursuing Thunder, wanting to keep her for herself because of the Pidgeot's "Adamant Nature".
1. Introduction

**A/N: Welcome to my first ever Pokemon fanfic, Broken Promise! Constructive support and advice is encouraged, and I do hope that all reviewers will put some thought into their reviews instead of just saying, "Oh, you did well".**

 **I started this fanfic a long, long time ago in 2010, back when I was still a noob. In around 2012 I completely lost interest in this fanfic and writing in general, so I took a gigapause from writing. However, as of 2015, I am writing again. I've still lost interest in this fanfic, but I fully intend to just finish it. I was going to finish it by posting the last chapter by the end of 2015, but stuff happened, and I realized that it would take more than one chapter to finish _Broken Promise_. So now I hope to finish the fic by the end of 2016. We'll see how it goes.**

 **I have over twenty chapters of this fic on SPPf, and I will try to post one chapter here per day until I run out of them.**

 **Once I finish this fic, I'll eventually go back and rewrite it during one of my Rewrite Months (Februaries).**

* * *

Hello there! My name is Thunder, and I am Ash's female Pidgeot… you didn't know that did you? That's all right. There are many secrets of the Pokemon world. As all of you know, Ash Ketchum, my former trainer, released me in the Viridian Forest a long time ago. He asked me to take care of a flock of wild Pidgey and Pidgeotto while he retrieved a Pokeball from Professor Ivy.

Of course, you know that Ash never came back to me – he broke the promise he made so long ago. It seems as if Ash has forgotten about me; the memory of me, I think, has crumbled to dust in his mind.

But I have, by no means, forgotten Ash, and this is my story of what happened after Ash left me.

 _To be continued..._


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: This chapter was written many years ago, and it has many issues. Once I finish writing this fic, I will go back and edit it during one of my Rewrite Months (Februaries).**

* * *

"Thunder, is something wrong?"

I roused from my deep thoughts and peered down the Roosting Tree to the speaker's nest. Sky the flock deputy looked up at me. "You seem to be tossing and turning a lot in your nest," she chirped.

Sky was a small female Pidgeotto whose plumes seemed to turn silver in the moonlight. Her plumes were silvery now, as the full moon gazed down onto the silent Viridian Forest. Sky was second in command in our flock – one rank lower than me, who was Flock Leader. I had met her on the first day of my leadership, and we had been great friends ever since.

I sighed, stepped out of my nest, and stretched my aching wings out. "Yes," I admitted as I scanned the Roosting Tree. "Can we please talk in private?"

Sky knew that, whenever I asked to talk to her in private, that it was about something serious. She yawned, stretched, flew onto my branch, and perched delicately next to me.

"So?" she asked, looking up at me. "What's wrong?"

I took a deep breath and muttered two words: "Ash Ketchum."

Sky drew back in surprise. "Didn't he leave you here a year ago?"

"That's the point!" I hissed. I gazed up at the moon. "Ash Ketchum PROMISED to come back for me as soon as he retrieved Professor Ivy's Pokeball for Professor Oak! It's been a year since he made that promise – far too long for a task like that."

Sky nodded slowly. "I see," she murmured. "But what about the Orange Islands? If I remember correctly, Ash was interested in traveling to the Orange Islands. Perhaps he's still having lots of adventures there."

"Perhaps," I answered. "But the Orange Archipelago is a pretty small region of the Pokemon World. It doesn't take a whole long year to explore them."

"So… what do you want to do about Ash?"

"I am going to find him and ask him why he broke his promise."

"What? But… but… what about me? What about the flock? We need your protection!"

I shook my head. "Remember how we saved the Spearows' leader from a ferocious Onix? The Spearow are our friends now." Memories of the rescue flooded back to me – a once-fierce Fearow, desperately struggling to get out of the grip of a giant Onix. I had come across our old enemy while hunting and decided that, even though this Fearow was an enemy, that no Pokemon deserved to get squeezed to the near-death. Therefore, I had called my flock to attack the Onix. It had been a brutal fight, but the Onix had run away, and the Spearow had been our friends ever since.

Sky dipped her head. "Oh, yes, I somehow managed to forget." She held her head high. "So I'll be Flock Leader while you are gone?"

"Yes" I chirped. _Perhaps you'll be Flock Leader forever_ , I thought, knowing that that fate would befall Sky if Ash decided to keep me. I shook away the thought. I wasn't going to tell Sky now. "I think I will start my search tomorrow," I chirped confidently. Then I looked down at my feet. "But where am I supposed to start? I have no idea where Ash may be!"

Sky closed her eyes, thinking. For a while I thought she wasn't going to answer, but she finally said, "I think you should go see Lightning."

"Lightning? Do you mean the famous one, Falkner's Pidgeot?" I asked incredulously. Sky couldn't possibly be advising me to visit a celebrity among the bird Pokemon!

"Yes, I am serious, and I am referring to Falkner's Pidgeot."

"But-but-but how? I can't talk to a Pokemon that famous? And how am I supposed to find Lightning?"

Sky put her wing on my shoulder. "Just wait around the Violet City gym," she whispered. "Falkner and Lightning will turn up sooner or later."

I nodded slowly and sighed. "Thanks for the advice, Sky," I chirped. "I'll announce my decision to the flock tomorrow morning. But right now, I'm going back to sleep."

Sky yawned loudly and turned to leave. But before she could take a step, we both heard something. We cocked our heads – could it really be? Was the sound we heard really what we thought it was? Yes – from the stillness of the night resonated a long, drawn-out call –

 _Ooooooooooooo Ohhhhhhhhhh Aaaaaaaa…._

I gasped and looked up at the moon, and there it was – the source of the cry. Sky saw it too. There, flying over the moon, was the great legendary bird Articuno, with feathers that sparkled and shimmered, feathers so blue they looked as if they were covered with ice. We watched, breathless, as Articuno, with its strong, powerful wings and long, flowing tail, disappeared into the distance and vanished from sight.

"Articuno," I whispered. "This must mean good luck." I dipped my head to Sky and settled in my nest. Within moments, I was fast asleep.

 _To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 2

The next morning, I woke to the usual chatter of voices that enveloped the Roosting Tree every day. Early hunters were bringing Bug Pokemon to the Food Nook, and energetic young Pidgey were gossiping about celebrities. "I heard that Falkner's Dodrio can really fly," one Pidgey twittered to another.

 _What a peaceful day_ , I thought to myself. _I wish every day could be like this._ I knew, however, that this was far from true - I would have to announce my departure today.

Spreading my wings, I glided to the Announcement Tree, a tall, thin tree directly across from the Roosting Tree. I took my place on the Leader's Perch, the tallest and most visible branch on the tree, and saw that Sky had already taken her place on the slightly lower Deputy's Perch.

"You ready, Thunder?" Sky asked.

"Ready," I whispered. Then I raised my voice and called out, "All Flockmembers, please gather here on the Announcement Tree as quickly as you can for an Announcement."

From the Roosting Tree poured a large throng of Pidgey, with the occasional Pidgeotto. Spirit, the flock's best hunter, arrived first. The male Pidgeotto, whose long tail made it easy for him to make nimble turns, was still carrying a large Beedrill in his beak. Next came, Breeze, a female Pidgeotto, her mate Wind, and their three mischievous Pidgey daughters, Fog, Feather, and Soul. The flockmembers gathered around the Announcement Tree for a while before gently settling down, with the two oldest Pidgeotto, Boulder and Cascade, settling down last.

Dozens of curious eyes peered up at me. I felt as if the eyes were swallowing up all my words; I opened my beak, but not even a whisper came out of it. Finally, I took a deep breath and called, "Flockmembers, as you all know, I am here because of a trainer named Ash Ketchum. He left me in this forest so that you all could be safe and protected."

A wave of nods and murmurs swept across the crowd, and I continued: "But there is one thing you Flockmembers do not know: that Ash promised, when he left me here, that he'd come back for me as soon as he retrieved Professor Ivy's Pokeball for Professor Oak. You all know that a whole year has passed since then, and I think a year is too much time for a task such as delivering a Pokeball."

Stone, a rather impulsive young male Pidgey, exclaimed, "But what are you going to do, Thunder? Fly around Kanto aimlessly looking for Ash?"

Sky held up her wing, silencing the protest. "Stone, you are correct that Thunder will look for Ash," she declared, "But Thunder has a plan. She will start by visiting Lightning, Falkner's Pidgeot, and ask if he has seen Ash. Even if he hasn't, Lightning and Falkner might still be able to help. You know that Falkner will always help a bird Pokemon in need."

"Oh, I see, that's a better plan," Stone said, and I dipped my head at Sky, acknowledging the support. "Flockmembers," I declared, "I have made up my mind. I will start my search for Ash by noon today. I will fly to Violet City to consult Lightning." I gestured at Sky. "While I am gone, Sky will act as Flock Leader and choose a Flock Deputy. Of course, there is a chance that I will never come back, and if that circumstance befalls all of you, Sky will be Flock Leader permanently."

The previously calm flock suddenly erupted in a storm of protest. "You can't leave!" Breeze cried. "We need your protection!" her mate, Wind, protested. "You don't even know the way to Violet City!" Stone added.

I held up my wing to silence the angry flock. "Breeze and Wind," I chirped, "Remember, the Spearow are our friends now, so they can help us fight enemies. Stone," I continued, "I believe I have this." Using her beak, Sky held up the very large sheet of paper that she always kept in her nest, for some unexplainable reason. "Sky is holding up a map, the tool humans use to get around," I explained. "I can make sense of it easily; it looks a lot like what I see when I fly high above the Viridian Forest. Each city appears to be marked with the badge it gives out, and one of the cities is marked with a badge that looks like a bird's wings. I am pretty certain that that city is Violet City, and to get there, I know I must fly westward from here and stop at the first big city I see."

The whole flock - dozens of pairs of eyes - gazed up at me with silent awe. Finally, Boulder, the old male Pidgeotto, stood up and remarked, "That reasoning is truly remarkable, Thunder. You definitely have the brains to make the long journey. I would go find Ash if I were you."

Then, suddenly, the whole flock began to chirp in support. "Go, Thunder, go! Go, Thunder, go!" As more and more voices joined in the chant, I felt more confident than ever. "Thank you, Flockmembers!" I called above the cheering voices. "I guess I will leave right now, then."

"Wait, Thunder!" called a voice below. "I'd like you to have this." Spirit, the speaker, flew up onto my branch and laid his Beedrill in front of my feet. "You need some energy for your long trip," he declared. "Eat up! I can always catch another one later."

"Thank you, Spirit," I chirped gratefully, and lowered my head to eat. But before I could take a bite, another voice called out, "Thunder! Don't forget to eat these Sitrus Berries as well. You'll need them for energy too."

Raising my head, I spotted Leaf, the Berry Expert of the flock. The young but smart Pidgey flapped toward me, a branch full of bright yellow Sitrus Berries clasped tightly in her nimble beak. She laid the branch down next to the Beedrill. "Thank you too, Leaf," I murmured as she flapped away; then I gratefully gobbled up the Beedrill and the Sitrus Berries. I had never tasted a Beedrill this meaty; never eaten Sitrus Berries this juicy. As the energy from the foods flowed rapidly into my body, I was suddenly filled with the feeling that my adventure would turn out great.

Immediately after my refreshing meal, I raised my head and faced my Flockmembers. Slowly, I surveyed the flock. I felt a horrible ache in my heart as my gaze fell on my greatest friends – including Sky, Spirit, and Leaf. Knowing I would never see them again, I swallowed hard and called, "Goodbye, Flockmembers. You've been great friends of mine, but I must leave now. Perhaps I will see you again." I shuddered as I said that, for I know that might not be true.

Then I focused on pinpointing my location, using the sun as a guide. Finally, spreading my wings, I leaped into the air, heading west, away from the shining, blazing sun.

"Goodbye, Thunder! Good luck! Hope you find Ash!" As the enthusiastic calls of the flock faded and eventually grew silent, I focused my eyesight on the distant horizon.

 _Violet City, Falkner, and Lightning,_ I thought as I flew westward, _here I come._

 _To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 3

Flying westward, I flapped my strong wings and focused my keen eyes on the horizon. I still had plenty of energy from the delicious Sitrus Berries I had eaten that morning, and I gracefully skimmed the treetops, leaves rustling with every one of my powerful wing beats. _Maybe I should try flying at my top speed_ , I thought. I shook the thought away. Flying at twice the speed of sound had to wait for later. For now, I had to keep my eye out for Violet City.

As the lush, green terrain below me gradually gave way to rough, barren mountain peaks, I slowed down slightly and looked around warily. I knew I was entering unfamiliar territory, so I flew higher into the sky. _I don't want to start any fights with the Pokemon living here_ , I thought. _I need all my energy for my journey._ I spotted several Donphan near a cave entrance, but thankfully they were sleeping. _Good,_ I thought, relieved.

A sudden cold chilled my bones; shivering, I drew my feathers closer to my body. I realized that the air was thick with powdery snowflakes, some of them drifting onto my beak and making me sneeze, others coating and chilling my wings. Looking down, I gasped in astonishment when I saw that the mountain peaks were lightly capped with fluffy white snow.

 _I must be nearing Mount Silver,_ I thought. _I must be brave._ A vicious gust of wind tore at me; tumbling backward, I struggled to regain my balance in the raging snowstorm. Hail buffeted my body, threatening to push me down to the ground. The cold was almost unbearable now, and I felt like crying in despair. _Keep flying, keep flying,_ I encouraged myself as searched the horizon for signs of civilization.

Gradually, the snowflakes slowed down until only harmless snow dust fell. The ragged mountain range below me gave way to greenery, and the storm clouds parted, giving way to warm, blazing sunshine.

 _Finally!_ I thought. As I soaked up the inviting warmth of the sun, I spotted, in the distance, a sprawling metropolis. _Can that be Violet City?_ I asked myself. _Yes!_ At the center of the city stood a tall, thin, cylindrical building which seemed to touch the sky. My heart skipped a beat. _The Gym,_ I thought happily. _No other gym in Johto is that tall._

Flying faster now, my spirits restored, I hovered closer to the gym. Circling the building, I spotted Lightning – strong and brave, as he battled a bulky, formidable Typhlosion on the rooftop battlefield. Lightning dived, swooped, and attacked gracefully and painlessly under Falkner's commands, while the Typhlosion struggled desperately to match Lightning's stunning speed. Battle commands filled the air: "Pidgeot, Quick Attack!" Falkner cried.

"Typhlosion, try your Flamethrower!" the challenger called.

The huge, fiery Pokemon lifted its head to fire a Flamethrower attack – but it just wasn't quick enough. Lightning skillfully rammed into the Fire Pokemon's belly, sending the Typhlosion rolling into a wall. It hit the wall with devastating impact, and its bright flames flickered and died out.

"Typhlosion is unable to battle!" cried the judge. "The winner is Pidgeot, so the winner of this match is Falkner!"

 _Wow!_ I thought. _Lightning is one powerful Pokemon!_ As Falkner walked over to the young challenger and shook his hand, I glided delicately down to the battlefield and stood next to Lightning, who was singing a proud victory song.

"Congratulations, Lightning!" I chirped. "You were really great!"

Surprised, Lightning whirled around and faced me. "Oh, I do this all the time," he boasted. Then he studied me closely. "You look very tired," he chirped. "Where do you come from?"

"Kanto," I answered. I studied the battlefield – the challenger had recalled his Typhlosion and was getting ready to leave. "Lightning, can I talk to you in private about something really important? It's about a broken promise."

"Sure," Lightning replied. He hopped over to Falkner – whose face had a rather perplexed look on it – and pointed to me with his wing. Then, he gently headbutted Falkner on the chest.

Nodding slowly, Falkner walked away and disappeared behind the doors of an elevator. Then Lightning flew back to me.

"So, what is it?" he asked casually.

I swallowed hard, and managed to say, "Have you seen a trainer named Ash Ketchum?"

"Ash Ketchum?" Lightning sounded surprised. "He battled Falkner and I six months ago! I put up a good fight against his Charizard, but Charizard just had too much firepower… Oh, well. A defeat is a defeat."

I nodded slowly, though I felt a sharp pain in my heart. "Six months ago?" I asked softly, sighing. "I didn't know that Ash could move so fast."

"Why are you worried about this Ash?" Lightning asked, perplexed.

Taking a deep breath, I began my story. "My name is Thunder," I began. "I used to belong to Ash, but he released me in the Viridian Forest a year ago. He promised to come back for me after he retrieved a Pokeball for Professor Oak, but he never has."

Lightning interrupted, "When Ash met Falkner and I, he said, right in front of our faces, that he used to own a Pidgeot and wanted to return for it someday… and he hasn't returned for you so far?"

I shook my head in despair. _Ash is such a liar!_ I thought angrily. _Now I've got to find him and ask him why he's lied to everyone: My flock, Falkner, Lightning, and me._

"That's crazy!" Lightning cried. "He _broke_ a _promise_! If you want to search for Ash, Falkner and I will definitely be able to help."

"You don't understand," I protested. "I want you to come _with_ me! Do you think a single Pidgeot can travel all the way across Johto alone?"

Lightning was silent for a moment, and then sighed, "I can come with you, as long as Falkner allows it. Wait here."

I watched curiously as Lightning hopped over to the elevator, pushed a white button next to it, and waited.

In just a few moments, Falkner stepped out of the elevator door. "What is it, Pidgeot?" he asked.

Lightning pointed to me with his wing, then stepped back silently.

I gulped. How was I going to explain my situation to a human who couldn't understand my language? Looking around, I spotted a pile of ashes, probably left over from the battle against Typhlosion. _Perfect!_ I thought. I hopped over to it and pointed at it with my beak.

"Ash?" Falkner asked, scratching his head. "What's so special about ash?"

 _He doesn't understand!_ I thought despairingly. I pointed at the ashes more urgently; then looked up at Falkner pleadingly.

"Oh, I see now!" Falkner exclaimed. "Pidgeot, are you referring to a _trainer_ named Ash?"

I nodded vigorously.

"I remember a trainer named Ash," he said. "Ash came through Violet City six months ago and won a Zephyr Badge from me. When I met him, he told me he used to own a Pidgeot and wanted to go back to it someday… wait, are you his Pidgeot?"

I nodded again. _Yes! He finally understands!_ I thought happily.

"And did Ash keep his promise of coming back to you?"

I shook my head sadly.

Falkner exploded. "WHAT?" he yelled. "He _broke_ his promise? That's outrageous! What was he thinking? He just insulted an awesome bird Pokemon! I would _never_ allow anyone to insult a bird Pokemon!"

"What's up with Falkner?" I whispered to Lightning. "Ash never acts like that."

Lightning giggled nervously. "Oh, never mind that," he whispered back. "Falkner hates it when people insult bird Pokemon. Sometimes he gets a little carried away."

Finally, Falkner calmed down and said to me, "Are you going to look for Ash?"

I nodded, and pointed at Lightning, who hopped forward and rested his head on Falkner's shoulder. Falkner was silent for a moment, and then gasped as he figured out the meaning of Lightning's gesture.

"My Pidgeot," Falkner whispered, "Are you trying to say that you want to accompany Ash's Pidgeot on its journey to find Ash?"

Lightning nodded and chirped sadly. _Will Falkner let Lightning go?_ I wondered. _I hope. I don't know how I'll find Ash without Lightning._

Falkner sighed and threw his arms around Lightning. "I understand," he murmured. "I know that Ash's Pidgeot will need some help finding Ash. I know that I'll be losing my best battler for a while, but I understand your need for adventure. You may go, Pidgeot. Goodbye."

I stared at Falkner. His eyes were stained with tears – was Falkner actually _crying_? How could I do this? I just made Falkner lose his best Pokemon! What was I doing to Falkner and his reputation? I sighed and shook my head. I hated having to do this, but I had to take Lightning along with me. I glanced at Lightning – he was crying too. Swallowing hard, I resisted the urge to cry along with them. I had never felt so guilty in my whole life.

A while later, Falkner stood up and disappeared behind the elevator door again. When he returned a few moments later, he was carrying a peculiar device with a red button on it. As he hung it on Lightning's neck, he explained, "This is a tracking device, so I pinpoint your location at any time. If you ever need me for any reason, just press the red button. I'll be with you as fast as I can."

As Lightning cooed his thanks, Falkner patted me on the head. "Why don't you stay here for at least tonight?" he suggested. "You can get plenty of rest, and I can make my special bird Pokemon food for you. It's made of Sitrus Berries, Oran Berries, Lum Berries, Wacan Berries, Charti Berries, and Yache Berries. You'll love it; I guarantee it!"

* * *

An hour later, I was munching on the Pokemon food, my first human-made Pokemon food in a year. It tasted delicious, much better than the Bug-type Pokemon I had to eat when I lived in Viridian Forest. When I finished my delicious meal, I lifted my head up to gaze at the stars – there weren't as many stars here as in the forest though. However, the few stars that twinkled in the sky all seemed to send the same message – _Good luck. Good luck._

 _Good luck_. I needed it.

 _To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 4

"Rise and shine, sleepy ol' Snorlax!"

Groaning and grunting, I buried my head deeper into my wing. "I'm tired, Sky," I mumbled. "I flew all the way from Viridian Forest to Violet City yesterday. You can organize the hunting and scout patrols."

A shrill, high-pitched laugh echoed around me, joined in by a slightly deeper chuckle. "Oh, Thunder," a familiar voice giggled, "Don't you know where you are?"

Startled, my eyes flew open. Scanning the area, I saw that I was in a forest – one that looked and felt different from Viridian Forest. Sure, there were trees in this forest all right, but these trees felt softer and spongier. I was sitting in a nest on a branch of the tallest tree, and right across from me, Falkner and Lightning sat on a larger branch, laughing loudly like two obnoxious Ash Ketchums. _Oh,_ I thought, embarrassed. _I'm in the indoor forest in the Violet City gym._

Lightning stopped giggling for just a while to say, "Remember, Thunder? We're going to Azalea Town today. And why did you call me Sky?"

"Sky's my best friend and deputy back at Viridian Forest," I replied. "I'm sorry. I thought you were Sky."

Lightning giggled a little, and then suggested, "Want some breakfast?"

"Sure," I exclaimed eagerly. Lightning flapped swiftly down to a food bowl at the edge of the indoor forest and pointed to it eagerly.

Nodding, Falkner nimbly climbed down the giant tree. He was surprisingly agile for a human, and apparently had better tree-climbing skills than Bugsy. I chuckled lightly to myself as I thought of the stories I heard of the small, purple-haired Azalea Town gym leader who often got stuck in trees.

As soon as Falkner was out of sight, I glided down to a food bowl next to Lightning's, the one I had used yesterday. "So," I chattered, "How do we get to Azalea Town?"

"Oh, we just fly south from here until we come to a huge cave, then fly west until we see the town," Lighting said good-naturedly. "Falkner and I have been there several times for training."

In a moment, Falkner returned with his special bird Pokemon food. I gobbled it up greedily – for some reason, today's food tasted even better than yesterday's. When not a single crumb remained in my bowl, I stretched myself out and hopped over to a door at the edge of the indoor forest. The door was marked with a cloud, so I was almost certain that the door led outside into the free, open air.

When Lightning finished his meal, he and Falkner joined me by the door, Lightning with the tracking device around his neck. Falkner sighed and rested his hand on the doorknob. "Well, you two, good luck!" he exclaimed. Then his tone and expression sharpened as he lectured, "Remember, you guys, eat well, drink well, get plenty of sleep, ask for help if needed, and pace yourselves! Be sure _not_ to get into any unnecessary fights, fly in bad weather, of get your feathers dirty. Most importantly, you two, STAY AWAY FROM ELECTRICITY AT ALL COSTS! And remember, nothing can break a bird Pokemon's wings. Stay strong! Now, I guess you may start your journey."

With one mighty push, Falkner shoved open the door – it did indeed lead to miles upon miles of seemingly endless blue sky, dotted here and there with fluffy white clouds. A warm breeze buffeted my feathers, cleansing them from the dust they had accumulated from being indoors for so long. Falkner hugged Lightning for one last time – I swallowed hard, reminding myself sharply how deeply Lightning's departure would affect the Violet City gym leader. Then, surprisingly, Falkner threw his arms around me and hugged me too. I didn't know why, but it felt warmer than any of the hugs I'd ever received, probably because it was my first trainer hug in a year. I shuddered, remembering that this would also be the last trainer hug for a long, long time.

Then Falkner stepped back; Lighting glanced at him uncertainly, and Falkner nodded curtly. With one mighty beat of my wings and one strong spring from the ground, I was flying, flying southward in the beautiful blue sky. Soon Lightning was flying alongside me, his longer plumes streaming in the warm breeze.

As I flew farther and farther away from Violet City, with its giant buildings and busy people, I listened as Falkner's calls of farewell dwindled and fell silent. With my eyes, I scanned the distant ground for the unmistakable red hat of Ash, but saw nothing except for the hard, brown soil of the lonely country road.

* * *

"I'm bored."

Lightning's voice broke the holy silence of the simple route and the surrounding forest.

I turned and faced him. "Why don't we talk a little, then?" I suggested. "You can tell me a bit about yourself and how you manage to defeat formidable foes in gym battles."

Lightning laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, my strategy is mostly speed and determination," he declared. "Falkner and I have the strong determination to prove that bird Pokemon _do_ stand a chance against electricity. Add that to Agility, Quick Attack, and Roost, and Falkner pretty much has victory in his hands. Why, I even managed to defeat Ash's Pikachu when Ash battled us."

I nodded. "Wow, that's cool!" I exclaimed. I giggled lightly. "I wonder why Ash wouldn't evolve his Pikachu into a powerful, swift Raichu."

"Some trainers are like that. I heard that Bugsy wouldn't even evolve his Metapod into Butterfree. What's the point with that?"

"Maybe Bugsy just spends too much time getting stuck in trees," I joked. Lightning and I laughed so hard, we almost crashed into a nearby tree.

* * *

We talked and laughed for a while, but soon I was beginning to get hungry. The lazy white circle of the sun hung directly above the forest as I veered away from my main course, settling onto a tree in a large forest. My vision sharpened as I searched the forest for tasty Bug Pokemon.

Lightning flapped down and landed next to me. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Searching the forest for Bug Pokemon," I muttered.

Lightning pecked me sharply on the neck; I jumped up at the surprising pain of the attack and yelped, "Ow! What did you do that for?"

"Are you crazy?" Lightning shrieked. "We can't eat _Bug_ Pokemon! Sure, I'm hungry, too, but can't we just find a lake and catch a Magikarp or something?"

I shuddered at the thought of the slimy, slippery fish sliding into my belly. _It would taste awful, if it didn't evolve into Gyarados first._ I winced as I imagined a giant, ferocious Gyarados, roaring angrily and mauling Lightning and I with swift Ice Fang attacks. "No!" I screamed out loud. "We are _not_ hunting for a slimy Magikarp _or_ a repulsive Goldeen!"

"Come on, Thunder!" Lightning pleaded. "I really don't want to hunt for Bug Pokemon. And really, Magikarp taste good! They're really exciting to hunt, too – my flock hunted them all the time, back when I was a wild Pidgey."

"Well, Pidgeot don't hunt slimy Magikarp, and that's that!" I snapped.

Lightning growled angrily. "Stop being so adamant, Thunder!" he hissed. "You should at least _try_ to hunt some Magikarp!"

I turned away, hissing angrily. There was no way Lightning could possibly make me eat a disgusting Magikarp. Focusing my senses, I spotted a Caterpie, crawling on the short grass a next to a small tree. I bunched my muscles, getting ready to dive onto the bug and finish it off…

Suddenly, a huge, intimidating Ariados dropped in front of Lightning and I, hissing and spitting furiously.

Lightning emitted an unusual high-pitched scream: "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

The Ariados scurried up the silk thread it had created in a single heartbeat, while the Caterpie darted, panicking, down a burrow. Other rustling sounds nearby signaled that other Bug Pokemon were also fleeing to their homes.

I whirled around and faced Lightning angrily. "Why did you do that?" I hissed. "Hunting is difficult! It is _not_ a game where you scare away all the prey! Now all the Bug Pokemon have run away, and they probably won't come out of their hiding places for a long time."

Lightning shrank away, plastering himself to the tree trunk. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you my secret," he whimpered. "I am horribly scared of Bug Pokemon."

"You are WHAT?" I screamed.

"I am horribly scared of Bug Pokemon."

I paused for a while, trying to make sense of Lightning's words. Then, I laughed so hard, I almost fell off the branch. I just couldn't help it. "A bird Pokemon, scared of bugs?" I giggled. "You _must_ be joking."

"I'm not!" Lightning hissed. "If you just _listen_ to me, I'll tell you why."

Sighing, I tried hard to stop laughing, then asked, "So? Why are you scared of Bug Pokemon?"

Lightning stared at his feet, shuddered, and took several deep breaths. _Wow, he looks scared,_ I thought. _He must be very brave if he can tell me his greatest secret, even though he's scared to tell it._

"All right, so this happened in the early days of Falkner being a gym leader," Lightning began. "I was still a Pidgeotto, and Falkner wasn't as smart, tough, or kind as he is now.

"One day a small boy with long, dark purple hair came to challenge Falkner to a gym match. The boy confidently said that all of his Pokemon were Bug Pokemon, which of course was predictable, because the boy was carrying a large bug net. This made Falkner overconfident, and he challenged the boy to a One-on-Two match – Falkner was certain that I alone could defeat two Bug Pokemon. He was wrong.

"The boy's first Pokemon was a Caterpie – 'How funny', Falkner sneered. He commanded me to finish it off with Gust – but that Caterpie was surprising fast, perhaps even faster than Ash's Pikachu. That worm used String Shot, and pretty soon, my whole body was wrapped in that sticky silk, trapped and unable to move."

"Ouch, that must hurt!" I exclaimed in horror.

Lightning nodded sadly. "I was completely immobilized," he groaned. "I could only struggle pitifully as the small boy recalled his Caterpie and sent out an imposing Scyther. The next thing I knew, that bug was slashing me furiously with its two horrible blades, and the next thing I knew after that, I was lying on a bed in a Pokemon center."

"Yikes," I whispered. "So that's why Bug Pokemon make you nervous." A flush of guilt enveloped me from the tip of my beak to the tip of my tail, and I promised to myself that I wouldn't ever be so thoughtless again.

Lightning stretched out his wings, relieved, as if his burden were finally lifted from his back. "Well, at least Falkner understands how I feel," he declared. "And that boy eventually became the Azalea Town gym leader."

"Wow, so Bugsy actually defeated a Pidgeotto with relative ease, using only Bug Pokemon," I breathed. "He didn't become Gym Leader for nothing."

Lightning nodded quickly. Springing into the air, he called, "Now do you want to hunt some Magikarp? Really, if you don't know how to, I can teach you."

"No way!" I yelled angrily. Why did he have to bring this subject up again? "You can go eat your slimy fish if you want. I'm staying here to hopefully get some bugs."

Lightning shrugged and flew swiftly away.

 _Good riddance,_ I thought angrily. Now that all was peaceful, I concentrated hard, trying to spot some Bug Pokemon. Luck was not on my side, however, because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see or hear any Bug Pokemon anywhere in the forest – Lightning had scared all of them away with his scream. After wandering the woods for a long while, I groaned, defeated, and flapped back to the tree Lightning and I were sitting on.

Surprisingly, Lightning was already sitting there. "Guess what, Thunder?" he teased. "I managed to catch a huge Magikarp at a nearby lake. And now, I'm full and you're not. If you hadn't been so adamant, then maybe you wouldn't be so hungry now!"

I opened my beak to protest, but before any sound came out of it, a huge, ferocious roar sounded not too far away. Startled, Lightning and I whipped our heads around, and almost screamed at what we saw. Not too far away, towering out of a small lake (it was probably the one Lightning caught his Magikarp in), was a furious, gigantic blue serpent. Its eyes blazed with hot fury, and its mouth gaped open, revealing a set of sharp, gleaming white teeth.

"It's a Gyarados!" I screamed in horror.

 _To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 5

In an instant, Lightning leaped into the air. He hovered in the air excitedly, trembling with anticipation. "Don't worry, Thunder!" he declared. "I'll finish this Gyarados off in a heartbeat!" He zipped off to the lake so fast that he was just a blur of feathers.

"No!" I screamed. Flying quickly after him in desperation, I pecked him sharply on the shoulder. "What are you doing, Lightning?" I yelled. "Remember what Falkner warned: 'Don't get into any unnecessary fights!' We're running away from this Gyarados. Right now."

Lightning just growled angrily and flew away even faster. Wanting to scream in fury, I found myself following him to the lake where the scary, furious Gyarados waited to wreak havoc on the forest. _I really don't want Lightning to do this,_ I thought, _but Lightning will need as much help as possible._

What happened next happened so swiftly that I thought time had sped up. All I saw were blurs of Lightning swooping, diving, and flying out of the way, while the Gyarados roared and tried to attack the furious mass of feathers. White streaks of speed zipped around the raging beast as Lightning rammed into the Gyarados over and over again with Quick Attack. Swallowing hard, I tried to help out, but everything was moving too fast. I could only watch helplessly as the battle roared on. But then, I suddenly saw that something was different. The Gyarados's fangs were glowing with a vicious blue light…

"Lightning!" I shrieked. "Look out!"

Lightning whirled around to face the Gyarados, but he was too late. In a flash, the serpent's icy blue jaws were closing in on him. I watched in horror as the Gyarados clutched Lightning in its jaws for a while; then, it tossed Lightning into the air, slipped under the water, and disappeared with a light flick of its tail.

"Oh, no!" I screamed, and immediately dashed to catch Lightning and break his fall. However, instead of catching a warm mass of soft feathers, my body brushed against a freezing, solid block of ice.

* * *

"Don't ever do that again," I scolded.

Lightning glared at me angrily. "Why not?" he hissed. "I could have defeated that Gyarados easily, if it weren't for that stupid Ice Fang attack."

Lightning's feathers were still covered with remnants of freezing ice. He shook himself vigorously from the cold. "Besides," he added, "you didn't have to drop me from a tree to the hard ground to defrost me. The fall really hurt."

"Serves you right!" I snapped. Did Lightning even remember Falkner's warnings? "Don't you remember what Falkner said when we left? We aren't supposed to get into any unnecessary fights, and fighting a random wild Gyarados is the most unnecessary fight I can think of."

Lightning turned away and shrugged. "It's a nice way to practice my fighting skills," he said absentmindedly. "By the way, after all this time, you _still_ haven't caught any lunch yet."

How could Lightning be so apathetic about this? I pecked him as hard as I could on his shoulder, and he jumped up in pain, facing me angrily. "Lightning, this is serious business!" I growled, resisting my pressing urge to holler into his face. "Listen, if you ever become incapacitated, we are both goners. Please, _please_ stop fighting and keep both of us safe!"

"Well," Lightning screeched, "Thunder, stop being so stubborn and picky and keep both of us well fed! If you can't at least try to catch a Magikarp, you're going to starve when we have to cross the ocean."

"Then we won't cross the ocean!" I declared. I stretched my wings out, suddenly realizing how hungry I was. "You know what, I'm going to hunt for Bug Pokemon. If you're scared, then fine. You can stay on this tree while I go hunt."

I leaped into the air and scanned the ground for bugs. To my surprise, Lightning followed me. _I'll ask him why later,_ I thought. _I'm hungry, and I need some food._

Suddenly, I spotted a flash of movement – a small brown Weedle was wriggling amongst the roots of a small tree. My stomach growling slightly, I focused of the movements of the Weedle and dived towards it. Closing in on the bug, thinking of a wonderfully delicious meal, I got ready to clamp my beak on the little Bug Pokemon…

… Suddenly, my dive was halted abruptly as my beak banged against solid, unyielding steel.

"Ow!" I cried, landing awkwardly on the grass. Rubbing my painful beak with my wing, I looked up apprehensively into the eyes of a fierce, intimidating Scizor.

I had heard of Scizor before – they were renowned as the toughest Bug Pokemon in all of Kanto and Johto. However, this was the first time I was meeting a Scizor in real life. The bug was enormous; so enormous that I was amazed that it was even a bug. Each one of its claws as big as a small Magikarp, and its dark red armor gleamed in the sunlight. The Scizor's eyes held a cold, intimidating expression that was extremely odd for a bug Pokemon. Even though I knew that it was a mere bug, I felt myself shivering a little with fear. The bug _was_ also a Steel type, after all.

"For your information," the armored bug screeched in a surprisingly high-pitched voice, "That Weedle belongs to my trainer. And _no one_ – not even Flying, Fire, and Rock types – ever harms my trainer's Pokemon without getting a beating from me first."

"Oh – I'm sorry – I didn't know that the Weedle belonged to a trainer," I stammered, still a bit surprised that the Scizor was female. "Guess I'd better get out of here, then."

"Wait!" Lightning called, circling down to land beside me. He narrowed his eyes at the Scizor, though I could tell that his scrutinizing eyes held a trace of fear. "Hey, you're the Scyther who defeated Falkner and I so long ago!" he exclaimed in surprise. "Guess you're even more powerful now that you've evolved."

"What?" I cried disbelievingly. So this Scizor was Bugsy's powerful Scyther, who had given Lightning his fear of bugs? "But… but… you're a girl?"

"'Course I am; what did you think I was, a plant?" the Scizor snapped. She put her claws on her hips angrily. "My name's Crystal Ice. NOT Crystal, and NOT Ice. Crystal Ice."

"Well, pleased to meet you, Crystal Ice," I said sarcastically, for I wasn't pleased to meet the screeching, hot-tempered bug at all. "I guess Lightning and I should continue on with our journey."

I turned to leave, but Crystal Ice swiftly planted herself in front of me again. For a Steel-type, she was surprisingly fast, which made me a little worried. "No, you can't leave yet, whoever you are," she snapped. "You tried to _eat_ poor Rosie here. That's right; even Weedle have names. I'm going to report you to Bugsy. _He_ can decide what he wants to do to you." With that, the Scizor flew swiftly away.

"What a jerk," Lightning growled. "She didn't even say goodbye or anything."

I nodded angrily and looked down at Rosie the Weedle, who had been too scared to speak this whole time. "Please don't eat me," she whimpered. "I'm Bugsy's only Weedle."

"Fine," I groaned, though my growling stomach was screaming at me to pounce on the Weedle and gobble it up. Forcing myself to look away, I waited and waited for the Scizor and her trainer to show up. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Crystal Ice and Bugsy burst through the nearby bushes, the Scizor almost screaming. "And one of the Pidgeot is Falkner's Pidgeot, the one we defeated together so long ago!" she shrieked. "They were trying to _eat_ Rosie! You must make sure they are punished! Really punished!"

"Relax, Crystal Ice," I hissed. "You know perfectly well that Bugsy can't understand you."

"Well, who cares?" Crystal Ice shrieked. She started to frantically point to Lightning, Rosie, and I. "I found these Pidgeot, trying to eat Rosie," she explained. "Since Rosie belongs to you, you can determine the fate of these two Pidgeot."

Bugsy, the purple-haired bug catcher, scratched his head a little. I had heard many hilarious stories of Bugsy before, but now I was finally meeting the Azalea Town gym leader in person. If it weren't for the stories from Boulder and Cascade, I would have thought that Bugsy were a girl. _Okay, Boulder and Cascade,_ I thought triumphantly, _you were right; Bugsy DOES look like a girl after all!_ Now all I needed to confirm were the rumors of Bugsy getting stuck in trees. I giggled a little at the thought of tiny little Bug Pokemon struggling to get a human out of a tree.

"All right, Scizor," Bugsy said finally, "Are you trying to say that these Pidgeot were trying to harm my Weedle?"

Crystal Ice nodded vigorously.

Bugsy studied Lightning and I sharply. "Hmm, you Pidgeot look wild. You probably didn't know that the Weedle was mine." He glanced at Crystal Ice and said, "We'll spare these Pidgeot for now."

Crystal Ice hissed angrily, but said nothing.

Bugsy peered at Lightning's tracking device. "Hey, what's this?" he asked with interest as he held the tracking device in his hands and examined it closely. Lightning stiffened, and my mind raced. _What is Bugsy going to do to the tracking device?_ I thought frantically. _Will he destroy it?_ But Bugsy just turned it over and peered at the words written on it. "If this Pokemon is ever found badly injured, please heal it as much as you can and contact Falkner, the Violet City gym leader." Bugsy read the phone number out loud, number by number.

"Wow, you're Falkner's Pidgeot!" Bugsy exclaimed. "I remember defeating you with Scizor so long ago, back when Scizor was still a Scyther!"

Lightning's face turned bright red. "You don't have to rub that in!" he groaned.

Bugsy just laughed. "Why don't you two come to my gym?" he suggested. "I'll call Falkner and tell him that you two are with me. But remember, if you eat my Bug Pokemon, Scizor here will give you a punishment you will never forget."

* * *

"Just look at this place," I whispered in awe.

The Azalea Town gym looked more like a forest than a Pokemon gym. All around me, tall, verdant trees loomed out from the earthly ground, while the bright, powerful sun cast its rays through the almost invisible glass walls and down on the many sun-loving plants. Bug Pokemon of all sorts filled the forest – Caterpie and Spinarak crawled up and down tree trunks; Metapod and Kakuna hung, unmoving, on tree branches; Ledyba and Ledian flew absentmindedly through the crisp, clean air.

"It's just like that fake forest in the Violet City gym, only real," I breathed.

"And crawling with creepy things that pop out of nowhere," Lightning groaned. "How long are we going to stay here, anyways?"

"Long enough to get a good rest and a full stomach," I stated, my stomach growling loudly again. The sight of all the Bug Pokemon around made me even hungrier, but the Bird Pokemon law of bound me: Never, ever, eat another Pokemon in the presence of humans.

Bugsy led us through the forest to the battlefield – it looked simple enough, like all the other battlefields I had seen before. "Everyone, stay here," he commanded. Without any other words, he disappeared into the thick forest.

Sighing, I landed on the outer boundary of the battlefield, where a small food bowl stood. Lightning landed beside me, though I knew that he was not hungry. My stomach rumbling, I bended my head to feast on the Pokemon food –

"Stop!" Crystal Ice shrieked, as she planted herself in front of my food bowl.

I looked up and growled. "Not you again!" I hissed. "Why can't I eat? I'm starving!"

"You tried to eat Bugsy's Pokemon. As a result, you must be punished," Crystal Ice hissed. "No food for you until tomorrow morning."

"Oh, cut that out, Crystal Ice." A voice sounded from above my head; looking up, I spotted a female Butterfree swooping down from a tree to face Crystal Ice. "This Pidgeot probably _is_ starving. It isn't fair to make her wait until next morning for food."

Lightning tensed a little. _Really?_ I thought. _He's even scared of Butterfree, the friendliest and prettiest Bug Pokemon around?_ No matter what, my flock never hunted Butterfree – they were known for their kindness and helpfulness during hard times.

" _You_ cut that out, Willow," Crystal Ice retorted. "I'm sick of you being so friendly to any visitors we get.'

" _You're_ the one who needs to learn how nice it is to be friendly," Willow admonished. "Why don't you go talk to Bugsy? He probably has some fresh berries for you."

Crystal Ice paused a little, but the thought of fresh berries seemed very tantalizing to her. Without a word, she flapped her wings and sailed away into the air.

"Whew; I thought she would never leave," Willow said, as she fluttered down to the ground. "Don't pay too much attention to Crystal Ice. She may be Bugsy's main battler, but there are many things that she lacks – such as good manners and thoughtfulness."

"How about you?" Lightning asked; I was genuinely surprised that I could not detect any traces of fear in his question. "Are you one of Bugsy's main battlers?"

Willow nodded. "I'm Willow, if you didn't know that already," she said. "I was a Metapod for a very, very long time before I evolved – and I'm glad I did. Now I'm good at blowing foes away with Whirlwind and putting enemies to sleep with Sleep Powder, but Crystal Ice does most of the fierce contact-battling."

"Oh," I said lightly. "I'm Thunder, and this other Pidgeot here is Lightning." I glanced at the food bowl. "Can I eat this food? I'm starving."

"Oh, of course!" Willow exclaimed. "It's Bug Pokemon food, so you might not like it, but you can eat it if you want."

"Thank you," I murmured, and plunged my head into the food. This food wasn't at all like Bird Pokemon food; it didn't have any meaty taste to it and instead tasted a bit like leaves and grass. However, I was so hungry that it didn't matter. Gulping down all of the food, I stepped back and burped lightly. "That was nice of you, Willow," I said.

Before Willow could respond, we heard voices nearby. Following the voices, I spotted Bugsy, talking on a videophone. "…your Pidgeot is doing great," I heard Bugsy say. "He's having lots of fun right now with the other Pidgeot and my Butterfree."

"It's Falkner!" Lightning whooped with delight, and flew with amazing velocity to the videophone.

"I wish he'd calm down a bit," I sighed to Willow. "I actually didn't come here to talk to Falkner on a videophone. Now that I'm here, I need you ask you this: Have you seen a trainer named Ash Ketchum?"

Willow cocked her head to one side. "Oh, of course!" she exclaimed. "Back when I was a Metapod, he came with his friends Misty and Brock to win a Hive Badge from Bugsy. That was about six months ago."

"Oh… thank you," I stammered, still surprised that I was so far away from Ash. I decided to change the subject. "So, Willow, does this gym have a Berry Expert of any sort? I mean, someone who knows a lot about berries?"

"Why, that's me!" Willow exclaimed. "This gym is full of all sorts of berries, and I can show you all of them and their uses and properties."

"Really?" I asked, getting excited. If Lightning got into a lot of fights, he would of course need berries to treat his wounds. "Can you show me as many berries as you can, while Lightning is busy talking with Falkner?"

"Sure!" Willow exclaimed. "Let's go!"

 _To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 6

"Oran Berries and Sitrus Berries restore energy," I remembered. "Cheri Berries heal paralysis. Pecha Berries heal poison. Rawst Berries heal burns, Chesto Berries wake a Pokemon up, and Aspear Berries can be used for defrosting. And finally, Lum Berries can cure paralysis, poison, burns, sleep, and freezing."

"Wow, Thunder!" Willow exclaimed. The female Butterfree danced around happily in the air, spinning around lightly and landed on the ground in front of me. "You really learn things quickly!"

I smiled and nodded. "Thank you," I said gratefully. Willow had been giving me a lesson on the many different berries that grew naturally in the Pokemon world and their useful healing properties. I had learned about the berries eagerly and attentively, knowing that the information would be very useful to me later. Lightning had joined me once his phone call with Falkner had ended. "Lightning, isn't this great?" I asked excitedly. "Now we're truly prepared for our journey!"

"Well," Willow said, a little embarrassed that she had spoken before Lightning could answer, "You're not completely prepared yet. There's still some more berry facts to learn, but if you don't want to learn them, it's fine with me."

"Actually, I want to learn as much as I can about berries," I said eagerly. "I'll need as much knowledge as I can get, considering how annoyingly brave Lightning is. Right, Lightning?" I poked him teasingly on his shoulder with my beak.

"Huh?" Lightning asked, completely surprised. He whirled around to face me. "What did you say?"

Suddenly, I realized that Lightning hadn't said a thing during the whole entire lesson – _That's odd,_ I thought. Beginning to feel that something wasn't right, I lowered my voice.

"Hey, Lightning," I whispered, loudly enough for Willow to hear, "Is something wrong? Why are you so quiet?"

"Um – well – yes, something is wrong," Lightning stammered. He glanced quickly at Willow. "Willow, is it okay if I talk to Thunder privately here?" he asked. "Also, can you please make sure that Crystal Ice and Bugsy don't find us?"

"Sure," Willow said, giving a polite nod. She fluttered away quickly, disappearing among the thick foliage of the indoor forest.

I looked around. Lightning and I were in the Berry Garden, a small, beautiful section of the gym. Berry bushes of all kinds surrounded Lightning and I, from dark green Rawst bushes to light green Lum bushes. The garden itself was surrounded as well: On one side was the thick greenery of the indoor forest; on the other side was a transparent but thick glass wall. Nobody would find us here.

"So, Lightning?" I asked, trying hard not to sound too casual. "Is something bothering you?"

Lightning stared at the tracking device that hung around his neck. "I was talking to Falkner," he began. "He looked rather worried, and it was because of a letter he received almost immediately after we left. He let me read the letter for myself, and the letter makes me worried, too."

"Wait," I said rather incredulously. "You _read_ the letter?"

"Sure I did."

"So that means… you can _read_?"

"Of course!" Lightning exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest. "Falkner taught me how to read a long time ago, back when I was a Pidgey. I found the lessons rather boring, but now I'm glad I know how to read. It's a lot of fun; Falkner has lots of exciting books about valiant bird Pokemon."

"Wow; that's awesome!" I exclaimed in admiration, not even bothering to ask him how in the world Falkner taught him how to read. "What did the letter say?" I asked, changing my tone to a more serious one.

Lightning took a deep breath. "Well, the letter was from Falkner's long-lost older sister," he said softly. "I don't remember much about her, because Falkner and I have tried our best to forget about her. All I remember is that she was horrible – she cheated a lot during her battles, and ran away the night before Falkner's first day as a gym leader." He shuddered. "At least we _think_ she ran away. The next morning, her bed was oddly cold and messy. She didn't even leave a sign of any sort of where she'd gone.

"We searched for her, yes. We asked various Officer Jennys and Nurse Joys whether they'd seen her. But no one knew where she'd gone. Eventually, we just gave up on searching for her. We even managed to forget about her to the extent that we don't even remember her name anymore." Lightning shivered, though the garden was sunny, warm, and peaceful.

"Wait, who's 'we'?" I asked almost instantly, immediately feeling guilty of my rudeness. _Don't do that again!_ I reminded myself sharply. _I have to remember to be more considerate of Lightning's feelings, not just my own!_

"Sorry," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks turn warm. "I forgot how hard this must be for you."

"That's all right," Lightning said quietly. "But to answer your question, 'we' means Falkner, his father, and I. You didn't know that Falkner has a father, did you? He was the former gym leader of Violet City, but he left Falkner in charge of the gym a long time ago. Falkner's been a great gym leader so far."

"I know," I said, trying not to sound too brusque. "But still, that letter from Falkner's sister must have been very… disturbing. I'll be happy to hear it; maybe I can even help you solve your problem."

Lightning took a deep breath. "It's weird; somehow I managed to remember almost exactly what the letter said," he began. "Here's what it said:

"To my wimpy little brother Falkner, it's me, your older sister. I don't need to tell you my name. You've forgotten who I am anyways.

"All I'm saying now it, don't ever come looking for me, because you won't find me. Ever. I am adept and traveling secretly and stealthily, and I can vanish into the shadows even better than your friend Janine can. Oh, believe everything I say, Falkner. Even if you call all the Officer Jennys and Nurse Joys in the Pokemon world, you still won't find me. If you do find me, you will risk your position as gym leader of Violet City, for I will battle with you. If you lose, I _will_ become gym leader in your place.

"Of course, you will definitely lose, for I have become more powerful than you. I left the gym with my trusty Skarmory and Golbat, both of which are overwhelmingly powerful now. Since then, I've obtained a Gyarados and a Charizard, two intimidating and strong Flying-types. I will use nature to help me become the most powerful Flying-type trainer of the all. I _will_ replace you, becoming everything your puny self is not. I will even get my own, good-natured Pidgeot – better than your Pidgeot, of course. I will beat you in every way imaginable.

"Don't stand in my way. Nothing can stop me from dominating all the Pokemon trainers in the world. I will become powerful. I will rule all. Signed, your older sister."

Lightning breathed out heavily, as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He was trembling and taking big, deep breaths, as if he were trying to calm himself.

"Lightning," I whispered, hopping closer to him and combing out his long, flowing plumes with my beak to calm him down. "I'm scared of this letter, too. Why don't we talk about it for a while and discuss what we should do?"

Lightning sighed, and pulled away from me. "I'm really scared of the part that says, 'I will even get my own, good-natured Pidgeot'," he whimpered, staring at me intently. "What is 'good-natured' supposed to mean? What if Falkner's sister comes after _you_? If you get caught by someone like her, then…" his voice trailed off, and he stared at his feet. "If she catches you, our quest will be ruined completely!"

There was something about Lightning's tone that sent a shiver from the tip of my beak to the end of my tail. Yes, there was urgency, and worry, too, but there was something else buried deep inside it – something that I just couldn't detect. _What is it?_ I wondered. I knew that there was something other than urgency and worry in Lightning's voice, and the fact that I couldn't figure out what it was made me frustrated. I decided to change the subject.

"Lightning, what makes _me_ worried is the phrase 'I will use nature to help me'," I declared, trying to remain considerate of Lightning's feelings. "I don't know how nature can help someone become a great Pokemon trainer. Of course, the trainer can use nature's berries to heal his or her Pokemon, but potions and full heals do the job just as well, maybe even better."

Lightning shrugged. "I have no idea of how nature can help a trainer either," he confessed. "But that part's just perplexing, not scary like the part that says 'I will get my own Pidgeot'. You know what, Thunder, I think you should be careful. A mysterious person is pursuing you. You should look after yourself."

"Well, maybe if _you_ looked after _yourself_ better, maybe we can both be safe!" I snapped. That strange emotion again! It made me so confused that I was beginning to feel angry. Suddenly I wished that I were a Psychic Pokemon like Xatu, so that I could read other Pokemons' minds. "Lightning, I do wish you would stop getting into unnecessary fights!"

"Well, Thunder, _I_ do wish that you would stop caring about only yourself!" Lightning lashed back, taking one step closer to me. "Can't you be more considerate of others' feelings, including mine?"

" _Your_ feelings?" I almost screamed. "Yes, maybe, but only if you aren't so scared of Bug Pokemon!" I took a big step closer to Lightning, so that his beak was only a feather-length away from mine. The fact that he was a little taller than me didn't bother me at all. "What kind of a Pidgeot are you? What kind of a Flying-type are you, if you're so scared of puny, harmless _Bug-types_?"

Lightning, undaunted, growled angrily. " _You're_ the one who isn't a proper Pidgeot!" he yelled. "Scared of _Magikarp_ , the most underpowered Pokemon of the all. How is a Magikarp scarier than a Caterpie?"

"Because-" I began, but I couldn't finish my reason. A loud but composed shout rang out somewhere above the berry garden: "Stop!"

Looking up, I spotted Willow, hovering above the berry garden. The Butterfree zoomed down and barged between Lightning and I, causing me to jump backwards.

"Thunder and Lightning," Willow admonished, "I thought you two were _talking_ in private, not _shouting_. I could hear you two shouting from halfway across the gym. If you two get any louder, sooner or later Bugsy and Crystal Ice will hear you." She stopped hovering in the air and landed on the dusty ground. "You know," she said gently, "They say that when two people – or Pokemon – argue, they really care about each other."

For a long time, an awkward silence hung above the berry garden. Neither Lightning nor I had any idea of what to say, though my face was gradually becoming uncomfortably warm.

"Excuse me," I grunted finally, "I need to go outside for some fresh air. I think I'm sick."

* * *

Flapping my wings rapidly, I flew. Where to, I didn't know, and didn't care. All I knew was that I was flying away from the Azalea Town gym and Lightning.

 _What are you really flying away from?_ a voice inside my head questioned. Immediately, I shook the question away and flew faster, past the small, homely Azalea Town and over a wide, sprawling country route.

However, despite my efforts, I found myself slowing down as a dark, thick forest appeared ahead. The trees in that forest grew so closely together that almost no rays of warm sunshine pierced the unyielding canopy; the forest floor was so dark, I was surprised to see healthy, green grass growing on it. The forest itself seemed to be a barrier, with every tree whispering, _Turn back, turn back_ as its leaves rustled in the cool breeze.

And turn back I did. Sighing, I made a large loop and flew slowly back to the Azalea Town gym. _I'm not done with my berry lessons yet,_ I thought. _And by the way, I can't go on by myself. Lightning may be stupid, but his battling skills will come in handy during my journey._

Flying directly into the gym – the doors slid open automatically when I flew near them – I sighed in exasperation when I saw Crystal Ice. The hot-tempered, loud, and selfish female Scizor was perched in a nearby tree. The expression in her eyes was one of anger and disappointment.

"Thunder, you again!" she screeched. "I thought you were _gone_ , once and for all. Willow came up to me and asked if I'd seen you, and that dim-witted Butterfree even bothered to tell me your name. I said, of course I hadn't seen you, why would I care anyways. Willow then said that Lightning, the other Pidgeot, was really worried about you, and I thought – "

"Whatever!" I shouted, more exasperated than ever. "Crystal Ice, where are Lightning and Willow now?"

"The berry garden, of course," Crystal Ice said.

I nodded. "Thanks," I muttered, though the word was utterly difficult to choke out. Without further ado, I leaped into the air and flapped away to the berry garden.

When I arrived at the small garden, Lightning was staring nervously at the ground and Willow was fluttering aimlessly in the air. "Willow and Lightning," I said earnestly, "I apologize for flying away like that. May you please forgive me?"

* * *

Lightning and I stayed at the Azalea Town gym for the next few days. Bugsy didn't mind at all, because we had promised never to eat his bug Pokemon. In the meantime, I learned almost everything about berries, while Lightning looked on, half-listening, half-daydreaming.

I learned how to crush Sitrus Berries and Lum Berries into EnergyPowder, to feed to a Pokemon who was too weak to eat a full berry.

"Be careful, though," Willow cautioned. "EnergyPowder is very bitter, and many Pokemon hate its taste, so only use it as a last resort."

I also learned, with interest, how to make Heal Powder with Lum Berries and many other ingredients, where to find the best berries, how to pick berries without getting rid of their medicinal properties, and many other bits of knowledge.

When my berry lessons were finally completed, Willow did a little happy dance in the air. "Congratulations, Thunder!" Willow exclaimed. "Now you're truly prepared for your journey to find Ash Ketchum!"

"I definitely am," I said happily. "I am completely prepared for any problems I would face!"

Unfortunately, I was wrong, for I would soon run into a big, horrible problem that berries would never be able to cure.

 _To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 7

Warm sunlight piercing the lush, green tree leaves woke my tired body up. Stirring and sighing, I blinked my eyes a few times, yawned, and stretched my wings, feeling the sun's wonderful warmth seep into them.

 _I'm leaving today,_ I thought sadly. A pang of both loneliness and gratitude rushed through my body as I remembered that today would be my last day at the Azalea Town gym, where Willow lived.

The female Butterfree had not only been my teacher but also a great friend. She had taught me all about berries during my stay at her gym, from the basics of recognizing berries to the complex art of making berry powders. She had helped me stand up to Crystal Ice, and thanks in part to her, the loud, annoying Scizor no longer bothered any of us.

 _Thanks for everything, Willow,_ I thought happily as I peered at the gym from my tree. Lightning was soundly asleep in the tree next to mine, snoring loudly with his head tucked under his wing. Willow was fluttering in circles above the berry garden, while early-rising Bug Pokemon crawled, scurried, and fluttered aimlessly in the dense indoor forest. Thankfully, Crystal Ice and Bugsy were nowhere to be seen. Looking up, I studied the sky through the clear glass roof of the gym. Not a single cloud dotted the vast blue expanse, promising auspicious weather for traveling.

Feeling joyous and playful all of a sudden, I glided stealthily to Lightning, who was fast asleep in his makeshift nest. I landed lightly on his branch and crept soundlessly across the limb. Once I was close enough to Lightning, I shouted, "RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPY OL' SNORLAX!" at the top of my lungs. Then I fluttered away, giggling, waiting impatiently for what would happen next.

The gym instantly became a hive of excitement. Bug Pokemon crawled or flew out of their sleeping places, looking around with confused expressions on their faces. Willow flew towards Lightning's tree, wondering what had happened. From the back of the gym, Bugsy stumbled sleepily out of a door; thankfully, Crystal Ice wasn't with him.

Lightning stirred, shook his head, and leaped into the air to face me.

"Did you have to wake _everyone_ in the gym up?" he grumbled. "And did you have to steal _my_ wake-up call?"

"It's not _your_ wake-up call, Lightning," I said, laughing. "And I'm hungry, anyways. Come on; let's wait for Bugsy to give us our breakfast."

* * *

The sunlight warmed my body from beak to tail-tip as I flew steadily with Lightning at my side, on the road once again. As I focused on the horizon, I felt a new sense of security and direction, for the secure pocket in Lightning's tracking device was stuffed with a carefully folded map of the Johto region.

We had asked Willow for the map right after our breakfast. Not surprisingly, Willow had been surprised at my request – "I've never met a Pokemon who could read maps before," she had commented. But Willow had brought me a map of the Johto region anyways. It was huge, almost as tall as the Butterfree herself, and it dangled heavily from her feet.

Willow had told me that trainers often went to Goldenrod City after passing through Azalea Town. With the help of Lightning's literacy, I had easily found the two cities on the map, and studied the routes joining them. I had discovered that I had to travel west to Ilex Forest, then north to Goldenrod City.

"You are truly exceptional, Thunder," Willow had congratulated. "Can you make sense of other human items too?"

"Perhaps," I had said, shrugging. "I've never tried before, though."

Now, the foreboding, shadowy trees of Ilex forest loomed ahead of me, and I skidded to a halt, rapidly flapping my wings in a figure-eight motion to hover in the air. Lightning followed suit, studying the dark trees apprehensively.

"Let's just fly over the treetops," he suggested. "I don't want to run into the millions of creepy Bug Pokemon here."

"Scaredy-bug," I teased, as I peered into the forest. From my viewpoint, the forest didn't look that scary at all. Enough sunlight penetrated the verdant canopy that a lush growth of grass as well as the occasional flower covered the forest floor. "There might be some interesting things down there," I pressed. "Can't we just take a look? We can come out of the forest if there's nothing special down there."

Lightning hesitated for a moment, thinking. Finally, he nodded. "You go first, though," he said apprehensively. "At least you know how to deal with creepy Bug Pokemon."

Giggling a little, I darted under the treetops; Lightning followed more cautiously, looking around for Bug Pokemon and sighing with relief when he saw none. Landing lightly on the forest grass, I studied my surroundings and gasped in awe.

Down here, the forest looked even more beautiful. Stray rays of sunlight bounced off the perfectly round dewdrops that clung to the blades of grass, turning the dewdrops into shimmering diamonds and pearls. The small but beautiful flowers danced and waved lightly in the whispering breeze, scattering their dewdrops that looked like precious jewels. A distance ahead of us was an interesting shrine of some sort, with piles of gold and silver coins scattered around its base.

"This is amazing," Lightning breathed, admiring the perfect dewdrops on the grass. "There aren't any Bug Pokemon here, thankfully."

"Let's go check out the shrine," I suggested. "It looks very interesting."

"Sure," Lightning said, and flew off. I followed him, landing at the foot of the mysterious structure.

The shrine was unlike anything I'd seen before. It was rather small, with a read roof and a sign with some fancy handwriting on it instead of a door. A golden statue of a Pokemon I couldn't recognize perched on the roof, and the many piles of gold and silver coins at its foot dazzled my eyes.

"Interesting," Lightning murmured, as he hopped closer to the sign to read it. "This shrine was built a long time ago to worship Celebi, the Guardian of the Forest," he read. "Legend has it that Celebi has the sacred ability to travel through time, making peace and helping plants grow as it travels. Here, people pay their respects to Celebi by leaving treasures such as gold and silver coins. It should be warned that Celebi will greatly punish anyone who tries to damage the shrine."

"Wow," I gasped, staring at the gold statue on the roof. "Is that mysterious Pokemon Celebi?"

"It sure is." The answering voice was not Lightning's, but someone else's. Whirling around, my beak dropped open as I confronted a familiar, elderly Pidgeotto.

"Cascade?" I cried in disbelief. As the old female Pidgeotto nodded slowly, more familiar faces revealed themselves. Standing near Cascade were some of my former flockmembers!

"Hey, Sky!" I exclaimed happily as I recognized my friend. "Spirit, Breeze, Wind, Fog, Feather, Soul, and Stone. Leaf and Boulder, you two are here too? How did all of you get here?"

Spirit, the skilled hunter, spoke mysteriously and quietly. "It's a long, strange story," he said. "We would like it if you told us your progress first."

"All right," I said without hesitation, happy to be back with my flockmembers again. "We're doing very well on our journey. Lightning, Falkner's Pidgeot here, can read human writing, and that ability is greatly helping our journey."

As I was talking, Breeze and Wind's daughters, Fog, Feather, and Soul, pushed their ways to the front of the crowd. The three inquisitive female Pidgey surrounded Lightning, asking more questions than he could answer.

"Can you really fly faster than all the other bird Pokemon in the world?" Feather asked.

"Can you really read the human language?" Soul asked excitedly.

"I heard that you defeated a Tyranitar once!" Fog squealed.

"Now, now, give Lightning some respect," Breeze chided, herding her daughters towards their father. "He's probably really tired from his journey."

"No, I'm fine," Lightning said. "Who are you, anyways?"

"We're Thunder's former flockmembers," Sky explained. "Thunder was our leader, and I was her deputy."

"We're actually really glad that we've run into you two," Stone said quietly, changing the mood of the meeting to a more serious one. "We have a problem we must discuss with you. It involves how we got here from Kanto."

"Sure," I whispered, as Lightning tensed beside me. "Is it a big problem?"

Stone nodded and dipped his head to Sky, acknowledging his leader. "Would you like to speak, Flock Leader?" he asked.

Sky shook her head gently. "No, Stone," she said. "You are a skilled speaker. And by the way, you were the first one who saw the Nature Hunter."

"Nature Hunter?" I asked. Apprehensive curiosity flared inside me. Somehow the title seemed familiar…

Stone nodded. "It began like this," he explained. The forest seemed to stop moving as the young male Pidgey told his story, while the golden sunlight glinted on the shiny Celebi statue that perched on the shrine. "This happened two days ago. It was moonhigh, and I was on night guard. From the guard branch, I could see movements in some nearby bushes. Alert, I squinted at the bushes, ready to warm the flock if the source of the movement was an enemy. And then, silently and stealthily, a mysterious young woman stepped out of the bushes, followed by a fierce-looking, intimidating Charizard.

"I tried to fly back to the Roosting Tree to warn the flock, but the moment I took off, I found myself completely paralyzed. Looking around in horror, I spotted the frightening trainer, standing firmly on the ground near the Roosting Tree, a long thread of cold blue electricity extending out of her gloved index finger and surrounding me. Suspended helplessly in the air, I could only watch in horror as the trainer commanded her Charizard to torch the Roosting Tree with Flamethrower. And that was exactly what the orange dragon did – a great orange flame sprouted from its gaping mouth, burning all the leaves of the Roosting Tree to ashes. Unfortunately, all the flockmembers were sleeping on the tree, and they all fell to the ground with sickening thuds, dazed by the fiery attack."

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, feeling a stab of horror course through me. "Was anyone _not_ knocked out by the attack?"

Wind, Breeze's mate, spoke up. "I somehow managed to get up," the rather hardy male Pidgeotto said proudly. "I tried to rescue my flockmembers, but that didn't do any good. Before I could help anyone, the Charizard's trainer reached into her pocket. 'Ugh! I forgot my Nature Checker!' she grumbled. Unfortunately, she threw a Pokeball at me, attempting to catch me. Of course, in my weakened state, I just couldn't break free of the capsule. The last thing I knew, I was being sucked into the Pokeball. Then I fell asleep, like all Pokemon do when they return to the Pokeballs."

"A Nature Checker," Lightning murmured, pronouncing the two words slowly and clearly. Interest was apparent in his voice when he asked, "Does anyone know what happened next?"

Leaf dipped her head. "It took a while, but I summoned all my strength to recover from the attack," the small female Pidgey chirped. "I knew, as my duty as Berry Expert, that I had to heal my injured flockmembers. Unfortunately, I was too late – by the time I woke up, my flockmembers were nowhere to be seen. All I saw were nine Pokeballs and one Ultra Ball, scattered like leaves in front of the Roosting Tree. Before I could do anything, however, a Pokeball bounced off my head and sucked me in. It was horrible."

"Well, the next thing I knew, I was in a huge cage with some of my flockmembers. The cage was in a small building of some sort," Sky chirped, confusion apparent in her voice. "The Nature Hunter – that's what we call the trainer who captured us – was standing in front of the cage, a small, Pokedex-like device in her right hand. As we all stumbled awake, she sneered, 'Well, hello, my brainless soldiers. You're all far away from your home, right? Well, that's too bad! My name is K, and one of you _will_ become my unstoppable, good-natured Pidgeot. I _will_ use one of you to become the most powerful Flying Pokemon trainer of them all."

"Wait," I interrupted. "What was her name? K?"

Sky nodded. "Yes, K," she confirmed. "Then K, the Nature Hunter, pointed her device at me. 'Let's see what your nature is, Pidgeotto," she said expressionlessly. The device mad a few beeping sounds, and K frowned. 'You're Docile. What a horrible nature,' she grumbled. She then used that device to check the other flockmembers' 'natures'. Spirit was 'Bold', Breeze was 'Calm', Wind was 'Hardy', Fog was 'Naughty', Feather was 'Naïve', Soul was 'Sassy', Stone was 'Rash', Leaf was 'Gentle', Boulder was 'Modest', and Cascade was 'Mild'. Apparently, K wasn't too happy with our natures – she grumbled, 'Ugh; why aren't any of you Adamant or Jolly?' Then, finally, K walked over to an opposite wall and pressed a red button on it. Our cage immediately began to lurch and slide, and the next thing we knew, we were falling in open air. K had imprisoned us on an airship!

"Thankfully, the cage snapped open during its plummet to the dense treetops of the dark, mysterious forest. We all managed to stabilize ourselves and decided to explore this forest for a while before we made any attempt to fly home. And that, Thunder, is how we got here."

For a long time, uneasy silence engulfed Ilex Forest as tension crackled in the air. The story was so scary and familiar that my insides were yelling at me to scream in anguish. The whole talk about "natures"… What were "natures" supposed to be, anyways? Why did Nature Hunter K want an "Adamant" or "Jolly" Pidgey or Pidgeotto? Why were natures so important to K, if they were just mere personalities?

Finally, I opened my beak to talk, but suddenly a strange jolt of electricity coursed through my body, rendering me almost completely unable to move any part of my body but my eyes. Groaning in pain, I felt another jolt, this one of terror, course through me. I was surrounded by a cold blue electric force – so were Lightning and my former flockmembers.

Looking around, I gasped in horror when I saw Nature Hunter K, standing behind the Celebi shrine. It had to be K. The trainer was a female of about eighteen years old, with flowing dark blue hair that concealed one side of her face. She wore an even darker blue hooded cape, and under the cape she wore a long-sleeved, pitch-black dress. She sported a pair of dark sunglasses, which did nothing to hide the cold expression of hatred on her face. An interesting glove covered her left hand; the cold blue bolt of electricity that paralyzed us extended out of her index finger. In her right hand was a small, Pokedex-like device: the "Nature Checker".

I could do nothing as K sneered, "Well, pathetic, bad-natured Pidgey and Pidgeotto, I release you just so you could take me to some good-natured Pidgey or Pidgeotto. You didn't know that, did you?" She pressed a few buttons on her Nature Checker. "And now, you've led me to _Pidgeot_. Let's see what their natures are."

She pointed the Nature Checker at Lightning. It beeped a little, and she groaned, "Grr. You're Brave. That nature not very good."

K then pointed the Nature Checker at me. This time, instead of beeping, it played a short five-note scale. A sinister, pleased smile crossed the Nature Hunter's face.

"And _you_ are Adamant. An absolutely perfect nature for a fine, strong Pidgeot." She grinned evilly, showing her teeth. "I'll have _you_."

 _To be continued..._


	9. Chapter 8

_No!_ I thought in horror and anguish. _K can't catch me! I'm Ash's Pidgeot, not hers!_ I glanced at Lightning, though I knew that he could neither move nor speak. Taking a deep breath, I tried desperately to flap my wings, but they wouldn't move, no matter how much I flexed my wing muscles. I endeavored to say something, but my beak seemed to be sealed shut. A cold, blue force of electricity surrounded Lightning, my flockmembers, and I, impairing all of our movements.

I could only watch helplessly as Nature Hunter K tucked her Nature Checker into her pocket. When her hand emerged from the pocket, it carried a Pokeball-sized metal ball instead of the Pokedex-like Nature Checker. She then pressed a small red button on her left hand's glove, the glove the paralyzing blue electric current extended out of. Instantly the blue electricity around us disappeared. Surprised slightly, I flapped my wings. They could move again!

"Fly!" Boulder, the old male Pidgeotto, shouted. Thirteen feathered bodies, including mine, shot into the air, flapping their wings frantically. I focused on the light piercing the treetops, forgetting about everything except for escaping from K and beating my wings in quick flaps.

"Oh, no, you don't!" K screamed, throwing the metal ball at me. The steel ball hit me squarely on my shoulder, and I winced with pain. There was a loud clicking sound, and suddenly the metal ball was gone. It had sprung open with a clang and turned into a small cage that fenced me in. Frantically, without thinking, I crashed against the cage's steel bars, only to be met with a painful rush of electricity that coursed through my body. I collapsed, panting with pain.

"Help!" I screamed, half out of pain and anguish. Struggling to keep my head up, I spotted Lightning a blazing streak of white light trailing behind him as he rammed my cage with all his might. However, the cage didn't move at all. Instead, it let loose a strong electric current, even stronger than the one that shocked me. Lightning, zapped by the powerful electricity, fell to the ground with a sickening thud and groaned.

"Lightning…" I whispered in horror. I turned to face my flockmembers. "You can still free me," I croaked, "as long as you don't physically touch the cage."

Sky and the others immediately leaped up into the air, grunting and flapping their wings rapidly to create a formidable Gust. K hissed angrily, shielding her face from the driving wind. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out another metal ball, which was much bigger than the one that captured me. Grunting, she hurled the ball at Sky.

"Look out!" I yelled, but the ball moved with amazing velocity. It struck Sky painfully on her back, and she groaned as the ball snapped open into a cage that was big enough to fit all my flockmembers. The Pidgey and Pidgeotto sat dazed for a while before they realized what was happening. Soul whimpered in anguish as she discovered that there was no escape, while Sky staggered weakly from the blow of the metal ball.

I watched, amazed, as Lightning bravely heaved himself up, breathing heavily. With a determined light in his eyes, he launched into the air.

"Gyarados, Ice Fang!" K called, throwing a Pokeball. The blue water serpent appeared in a flash of white light, its vicious fangs glowing with a bluish tinge. Before Lightning could do anything, the Gyarados attacked. It sank its teeth into Lightning's shoulder, and I closed my eyes in horror and fear. Trembling, I breathed heavily as I forced my eyes to open. Lightning was lying on the ground, motionless, while K was calling back her Gyarados.

There seemed to be absolutely no hope now. My flockmembers huddled together in their cage, knowing that there was no escape. Lightning was silent; the Gyarados's Ice Fang attack had knocked him out for good. As I struggled desperately to stay awake, Nature Hunter K, knowing that all the Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot were helpless, moved toward the piles of gold and silver coins at the foot of the Celebi shrine. Smiling, she pulled out a large sack and began stuffing the coins quickly into the sack. Suddenly, as I watched her do her dirty work, I remembered something…

 _Celebi will greatly punish anyone who tries to damage the shrine…_

A high-pitched cry rang through the previously quiet forest. "Stop!"

K whirled around angrily. Alert now, I stood up, looking around the forest for the source of the cry. My flockmembers' cage was immediately abuzz with activity, as heads turned towards the direction of the call. Fluttering high above the shrine was a small green Pokemon, with transparent wings and blue-tipped antennae. Celebi!

I stared in amazement as the Guardian of the Forest fluttered over to my cage. K dropped her sack with a thud and stood there, unmoving, apparently surprised at seeing such a rare Pokemon. Sky gasped in awe, and Cascade trembled with excitement.

"How did you all get into these cages?" Celebi asked in horror. It turned angrily to face K. "Did this coin-thief do it?"

I nodded. "Yes, she did it," I moaned. "She also knocked out my friend, Lightning, with her Gyarados. And now she wants to steal all those coins! I can't believe that she's cold-hearted enough to do this!"

Celebi nodded and hissed angrily. Turning to K, it conjured up a glowing, powerful Energy Ball and hurled it at the Nature Hunter. K shouted and leapt out the way just in time, the shining, green ball exploding next to her as it hit the ground. Cursing and spitting, she reached down to grab the sack, but the sack began to glow with an eerie blue light. Celebi, with its eyes glowing with psychic energy, used its powerful psychic powers to toss the sack towards the foot of the shrine. There was a tinkling sound as the gold and silver coins spilled out of the sack, landing in a perfect pile.

"You winged fool!" K screamed, raising her arm to fire her evil, paralyzing electricity at Celebi. Celebi, however, reacted surprisingly quickly. Without wasting any time, it began to rapidly fire bright green Energy Balls at K's feet. Clenching her teeth and cursing, K turned and fled from the attack, disappearing into the thick growth of Ilex Forest. By the time the explosions from the Energy Balls died down, the Nature Hunter was gone.

"Thank you, Celebi!" I sighed. I closed my eyes, respectfully dipping my head at the magical, winged grass-type Pokemon. "I am very grateful that you saved us, and I understand that you appearing was just a random stroke of luck. I promise that I will learn from this experience to train harder and rely on my wits and experience, not just my luck. Because, I know, that a legendary Pokemon is not always there to rescue you. Sometimes, you just have to rescue yourself."

Celebi bowed and giggled. "You don't have you say all that," it said, smiling. "Thank you for the thanks, anyways. By the way, I'm not done with my rescue. I still have to get you out of that cage."

"Oh!" I exclaimed. In my joy at seeing a legendary Pokemon, I had totally forgotten that my flockmembers and I were stuck in electrical cages. "These cages are electrically charged, so they will give you a painful electric shock if you touch them. You can use ranged attacks though, but we're all so fenced in that we can't use our ranged attacks without hurting ourselves."

"No problem," Celebi assured us. Using its psychic powers, it lifted the extremely heavy cages into the air. Gasping in awe, my flockmembers and I all got out of the way before Celebi set the cages down. We watched in amazement as Celebi's glowing blue eyes returned to their normal color. Then, just like that, the cages curled up and once again became harmless little metal balls.

"Wow," I whispered. "How do you have so much power, Celebi?"

Celebi just shrugged. "Well, I am a legendary Pokemon," it declared. Then it nodded at my flockmembers, changing the subject. "Pidgey and Pidgeotto," it asked, "Are you all far away from home?"

Sky seemed surprised when she answered, "Yes, we are from Viridian Forest in Kanto." She cocked her head to one side, puzzled. "How did you know that?"

Celebi just giggled and twirled in the air. "Remember, I have exceptional powers," it said. "I'm actually a one-of-a-kind Celebi, because I can use Teleport. I can take all of you back home in an instant, if you like."

"Oh, we would love it if you did," Sky said gratefully. "We have some younger Pidgey who might not be able to handle the long journey home."

"Hey!" Soul protested. "What are you talking about? Of course Fog, Feather, and I are tough enough!"

"Shh." Sky shushed. "Come on; we're not teleporting just because of you three!" She turned to me and dipped her head. "Well, we'd better get going now, Thunder."

I nodded sadly. "Good luck, all of you!" I exclaimed. "Have fun in Viridian Forest!"

Celebi nodded back and rose into the air, its beautiful, transparent wings fluttering. My flockmembers followed, their feathered bodies and wings rising towards the lush, green canopy of the forest. I watched with an aching sadness as Celebi and my flockmembers all began to glow with a beautiful silver light. Then, just like that, they were all gone. All that remained where they had been was the beautiful scenery of Ilex Forest.

I sighed as I turned to Lightning. My traveling companion lay unmoving where he had fallen so long ago, with crackling blue electric currents still flowing between his feathers. Looking around, I spotted several perfect, juicy Sitrus Berries and Cheri Berries growing on nearby bushes. _Perfect!_ I thought happily. I hopped over to the bushes and plucked off the tender, succulent berries. My whole body ached – the cage had electrified me, too. _Lightning's condition is worse than mine,_ I reminded myself. Clasping the berry stems in my beak, I hopped back to Lightning. He groaned, blinked open his eyes, and lifted his head weakly.

"Wha – what happened?" he croaked. "Where's your flockmembers?"

"Shh," I whispered. "Don't move. I'll explain what happened later." I dropped the berries lightly in front of him. "Here, eat these. They'll make you feel better."

"Thanks," he mumbled, gobbling up some of the Cheri Berries. Sighing and flexing his wings, he said, "Here, Thunder. You can eat the rest."

"But you still need Sitrus Berries to restore your energy," I pointed out, surprised.

"Oh, no need," Lightning said quickly. "I can heal myself easily with Roost, one of the battling strategies I use during gym battles."

"Really?" I asked, interested. "I've never heard of moves that restore health before."

"It's pretty simple, actually," Lightning said. "Watch." Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and spread out his wings. The moment his wings touched the ground, he began to glow with a warm golden light. I watched in amazement as sparkling feathers swirled around him, while the wounds on his body dissolved into nothingness. Finally, the shimmering feathers, then the golden glow, began to fade. He sighed, opened his eyes, and folded his wings.

"There," he said happily flexing his wings with ease. "I feel much better."

"Wow, that's so cool!" I exclaimed. "It's like eating Sitrus Berries, only easier and prettier."

Lightning shrugged. "Yeah, of course you'd think Roost is pretty. You're a girl." He nudged the remaining berries towards me with his wing. "You forgot to eat your berries."

"Oh, I forgot!" I exclaimed. "I was too busy watching you Roost." Gratefully, I gobbled up the Cheri Berries and Oran Berries, sighing with relief as the berry juices rushed down my throat. Feeling stronger and more limber almost instantly, I flexed my wings with pleasure.

"Ahh, I feel much better now," I sighed, feeling newfound strength flow through my body. I wanted to ask Lightning, "Do you want to get back on the road now?" but I bit back the brusque question. Lightning would be curious about how I got freed from K's cage, after all.

"So, after I got stuck in the cage, K threw another one of those metal balls at my flockmembers, just as they were about to free me," I began. "Of course, because we were all captured, we couldn't do anything as K attempted to steal the coins from the shrine. But then Celebi appeared out of nowhere, took back the gold and silver coins, and chased K away with an onslaught of Energy Balls. Finally, Celebi freed us all using its psychic powers."

"Where are Celebi and your flockmembers now?" Lightning asked.

"Oh, Celebi teleported with them back to Viridian Forest, where they came from."

To my surprise, Lightning's response was a quick and angry one. "Why didn't you ask Celebi to _wait_ until I recovered?" he asked, twitching his tail with frustration. "I've _always_ wanted to see a legendary Pokemon! After all, everyone wants to see legendary Pokemon, not just me! Why the rush, anyways? Your flockmembers didn't have to go anywhere in a hurry, did they?"

"Well, _we_ have to go somewhere in a hurry, though!" I snapped, frustrated at Lightning for reacting so violently to my story. "By the way, almost no one lives to see a legendary Pokemon! I'm sorry, but that's just life. Deal with it."

"Well, _somebody's_ being inconsiderate," Lightning growled, turning away. "Some folks never learn how to care about others."

"Well, _somebody's_ being whiny," I retorted, stamping my feet in the dirt. "Some folks never learn how to deal with life."

"Listen to us, another argument, again!" Lightning exclaimed. "Do you want me to travel with you?" He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. "If I'm so despicable, why are you even traveling with me?" he asked softly, staring at his feet. "If you hate me so much, why don't you travel on your own?"

Lightning was trembling, as if the idea of me traveling alone was too much for him to bear. Suddenly it hit me: what happened back at the Azalea Town gym was happening again. It was the strange emotion in Lightning's voice that I couldn't figure out, no matter how hard I tried. As I stood there, trying to figure out what to say, I felt it too: a sudden wave of the mystery emotion washed over me from my beak to my tail. It was indescribable – a jolt of some kind of feeling coursed through my heart, leaving it pounding furiously in my chest. I didn't know why, but it involved one thing – Lightning. Lightning was causing this.

As I stared at the ground, suddenly I heard a voice above my head.

"Excuse me, Pidgeot?" it asked. "Is everything all right?"

I looked up, and there it was: Celebi, again! It had apparently finished teleporting my flockmembers to Viridian forest and was hovering in the air above my head.

"Um, well, no," I stammered, staring pleadingly at our rescuer. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Well, I finished teleporting the Pidgey and Pidgeotto to their home, so I decided to return to Ilex Forest to make sure everything was all right." It scratched its head, puzzled. "I heard the two of you arguing, so I decided to come and check it out." Celebi fluttered down, landing on the ground in front of me. "Thunder, I really need to talk you about Lightning," it said quietly. "Do you have time to spare?"

"Huh?" I asked, puzzled. "How do you know our names?"

Celebi shook its head. "That doesn't matter. Come with me." It flew into the air, headed for the deep forest. "I need to give you an important piece of advice."

 _To be continued…_


	10. Chapter 9

"Thunder", Celebi inquired once we were out of Lightning's sight, "Why are you traveling with Lightning if all you're going to do is argue with him?"

I sighed angrily. "I don't know," I groaned. "He's the most intolerable, insufferable Pokemon I've ever met. He's so overconfident – just like Ash Ketchum – but Ash has the optimism and guts to make up for his stupidity."

"Ash Ketchum?" Celebi asked with excitement. "I've met a trainer named Ash before! It was a very complicated occurrence though, and I prefer not to talk about it."

"That's okay," I said respectfully. "But you've met Ash before? I used to be Ash's Pokemon!" I sighed sadly. "He released me in the Viridian Forest more than a year ago, though. He promised he'd come back… but he hasn't come back so far. That's why I'm on a journey with Lightning to find Ash and ask him why he never came back for me."

Celebi nodded. "But all you ever do with Lightning is argue with him…" It gazed up at the dense treetops of the forest. "You know, they say that when two people – or Pokemon – argue, they really care about each other."

I gasped. I had heard that saying before: from Willow the Butterfree, back in the Azalea Town gym. When Willow had said that, I had kept my thoughts and feelings to myself pretty well. Now, however, all the thoughts that had been stored inside me since then came tumbling out, as unstoppable as a swarm of Beedrill.

"No!" I screamed. "Lightning and I _can't_ be mates! We just can't!" I kicked a small rock on the ground. "That's what you mean, right?"

Celebi nodded. "Why can't you and Lightning be mates?" it asked gently.

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm currently on a journey to find Ash Ketchum, _not_ a mate," I spat. "I've never wanted a mate for my whole entire life, by the way. I've always been independent, fending for myself just fine. When I became Flock Leader, I decided to devote all of my energy to protect the flock – which, of course, left no time at all for mates and families."

"Why did you do that?" Celebi asked. "Just because you're Flock Leader doesn't mean you can't have a mate." The small green Pokemon giggled softly. "You know, I think Lightning really likes you."

I felt my face turn hot. "How are _you_ supposed to know anything about how Lightning feels?" I asked angrily. "Can I trust what you say, or are you just guessing?"

Celebi giggled. "Of course I'm not guessing, Thunder," it said softly. "I am legendary and Psychic, after all. Sure, I am no Gardevoir, but love is a very strong feeling. Even a weaker Psychic-type like Natu can detect it, and Lighting's feelings for you are very strong."

I sighed. Suddenly, all of my anger flowed out of me, while a new feeling of helplessness engulfed my body and soul. "All right. I admit it," I said helplessly, staring at my feet. "I do think that Lightning really, really likes me. And – oh, why am I saying this? – Lightning _does_ look kind of handsome."

"Oh, really?" Celebi gushed. It smiled broadly and twirled around a few times in the air. Landing on my shoulder, it suggested, "Why don't you tell him how you feel?"

I shook my head. "No matter how handsome Lightning may be, he _cannot_ be my mate," I insisted, trying to cover the hurt that was welling up inside of me. "Lightning belongs to Falkner of Violet City in Johto. And hopefully, I will belong to Ash Ketchum, my former trainer. I don't even know where Ash is! He could be in that faraway land of Ho-ann, or even places I don't know of. However, if I do find Ash, Lightning will have to go back to Falkner, and we won't ever see each other again." I held my head up. "So that's why, no matter what, Lightning and I can never, ever become mates."

Celebi sighed and fluttered off my shoulder and to the ground. "Thunder", it said wisely, "When I met Ash, I learned something important: True friendships can withstand the test of time. I guess you can also say that true love can withstand the test of space… do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

"No," I grumbled. "How is love like friendship? And how is space like time?" I turned away from Celebi. "Why should I even listen to your advice? What do _you_ know about love?"

Celebi fluttered in front of my face. "First of all, love is like friendship – a warmer, stronger friendship," it explained patiently. "Space is like time; both are powerful forces that can threaten to tear apart a close bond between two individuals." It closed its eyes, breathing deeply. "But if the bond is strong enough, it can overcome the forces of space and time. Oh, Thunder… please tell Lightning how you really feel about him. He needs to know that he is loved."

I stamped my foot. "I never said that I'm in _love_ with Lightning!" I snapped, embarrassed. "I just said that he looks kind of handsome." I shook my head. What was I thinking? I was supposed to be looking for Ash Ketchum, not talking with a legendary Pokemon about the forbidden subject of love! "I don't love Lightning," I said coldly. "I'm not supposed to be doing this. I'm supposed to be looking for Ash." I turned away, getting ready to leave.

Celebi sighed. "If you don't want love, then that's fine with me. It's you who's getting hurt, not me." It fluttered towards the treetops, its spirits dampened.. "But Thunder, please think about what I said. Don't be afraid of telling Lightning what you feel." With that, the small legendary Pokemon flew through the treetops, disappearing from sight.

I watched the thick, green treetops for a while, uncertain of what to do. Finally, I growled and shook my head. "Lightning can be a friend, but _nothing_ more," I told myself firmly. Without any further ado, I launched into the air and flew back to where I had left Lightning earlier.

~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~  
~~~Lightning~~~

I sighed as I watched Thunder fly away with Celebi. _Why would a legendary Pokemon want to talk to her?_ I wondered. _Is it about me? But how is Celebi supposed to know what I feel about Thunder?_

My gaze fell upon a nearby flower bud, and I turned to admire its seeming innocence and hidden beauty. _Thunder's like a flower bud,_ I thought warmly. _She isn't very remarkable on the outside, but she's beautiful and wonderful on the inside._

I shook my head, feeling silly and girly. I'd never had such tender thoughts for someone before, but Thunder was different. I sighed as I thought of her, my adamant but lovably smart traveling companion. Sure, she could be stubborn and self-centered at times, but I admired her strong and feisty personality. Thunder wasn't the most gorgeous Flying-type Pokemon I'd ever laid my eyes on, but there was something about her that made her special – her remarkable intelligence. Thunder learned quickly, considering how quickly she'd learned her berry lessons at the Azalea Town gym. In just a few days, she had learned the names, properties, and uses of every single berry in the Pokemon World. She could also read maps! To me, maps were just pointless, incomprehensible pictures. Sighing, I wondered how Thunder got all her amazing smarts.

 _She's a good friend, too,_ I thought longingly, _but I wish she were more than just a friend._

I trembled a little. The thought of telling Thunder how I felt about her drained all the courage out of my soul. _I shouldn't be scared!_ I thought angrily. _I'm supposed to have a Brave nature! I can defeat a Tyranitar and fly through a snowstorm!_ Falkner's parting words echoed in my mind: "Nothing can break a bird Pokemon's wings…"

"If that's true, then why am I so scared of talking to Thunder?" I grumbled. I shook my head and launched into the air. _I'll get my stomach full first,_ I thought, suddenly realizing how hungry I was. _I'll think about Thunder later._

A movement in a nearby patch of grass caught my attention; turning, I spotted a small Caterpie, wriggling through the verdant grass. My first reaction was to scream and run away: after all, it _was_ a creepy, crawly bug!

Then I got a better idea: _Why don't I catch it?_ I thought suddenly. _That would make Thunder very proud of me!_

I puffed up my chest, trying to ignore my fear. Hovering in the air, I searched my brain for the memory of how to hunt – after all, it had been a long, long time since the elders of my flock taught me how to hunt Magikarp.

"Approach from the front of the Magikarp, because its eyes on the sides of its head prevent it from seeing straight ahead," the elders had advised. "As long as the Magikarp is under the water, it won't see you, unless your shadow in on the water. Dive quickly and use your clawed feet to grasp the Magikarp on the head. That way, it'll die instantly and won't suddenly evolve into a fearsome, dangerous Gyarados."

"Sounds simple enough," I chirped proudly, and quietly glided to the front of the Caterpie. Taking a deep breath, I folded my wings and dived, extending my clawed feet as they brushed against the grass. The next step would be to just grasp the Caterpie on the head without looking back and losing my balance…

Unfortunately, the Caterpie looked up just in time to see me diving at it with my claws extended. Silently and unexpectedly, a long, sticky, white string shot like a bolt of lightning out of the Caterpie's mouth. Gasping, I flapped my wings, trying to dodge it. I somehow wasn't fast enough though, and the sticky String Shot wound itself tightly around my legs and bound them together.

"Ack!" I cried, instinctively plucking at the threads with my beak. No longer streamlined, I lost my balance, my back hitting the ground with a painful thud. I flapped my wings desperately, trying to somehow get back into the air, but the Caterpie had slithered away and disappeared into the tall grass.

Before I had any time to feel ashamed of myself, a light giggle sounded from behind me. "Nice landing, Lightning."

I jumped to my bound-together feet, my back aching, and managed to turn around. Thunder stood there, apparently trying very hard not to laugh.

"Where did you learn how to hunt like _that_?" she asked between giggles. "Don't you know that Bug Pokemon can see you if you approach them from the front?"

My face turned hot with embarrassment. What had I just done? I had disgraced myself in front of Thunder, the worst Pokemon to disgrace myself in front of. "Well, that's how you hunt Magikarp," I explained. "You have to grasp them on the head to kill them quickly so that they won't suddenly evolve into Gyarados."

"Oh, I see," Thunder said, understanding. "But with Bug Pokemon, you have to approach them from behind or they'll see you and attack."

"Totally," I groaned. I plucked at the sticky strands wrapped around my feet. "As you see, a humble little Caterpie just defeated a powerful Pidgeot."

"Here, let me take a look at the String Shot," Thunder offered. I nodded gratefully as Thunder carefully examined the tightly wound strands. She plucked one of the strands and shook her head.

"It's pretty tight," she said. "I think I'll need something sharper." She looked down at her clawed feet, lifted one of them, and flexed it. "Don't move, Lightning. Let me try this."

I nodded and tensed as Thunder's clawed feet tried to slice through the String Shot. The strands held tight, however, and Thunder stamped her foot. "It's no use," she groaned. "It's hard to balance on one foot and cut the String Shot with the other foot."

"What do I do then?" I asked, frustrated. "I can't fly properly or hunt if my legs are tied together like this!"

"Why were you hunting Bug Pokemon, anyways?" Thunder asked suddenly. "I thought you were horribly scared of them."

I looked down at my feet. "You see, um, I just figured that there isn't always a lake nearby, so I have to learn how to hunt bugs," I said quickly, concealing my true reason. I couldn't possibly tell Thunder what I felt about her now, after how I'd failed so badly at catching a Caterpie. I looked at Thunder, trying hard not to blush. "I don't like being afraid of things, so I have to conquer my fear of Bug Pokemon."

Thunder looked away. "I'm going to catch a Weedle," she said abruptly. "It'll break the strands around your feet." With that, she flew away.

I sighed. Why did Thunder turn so abrupt all of a sudden? For some strange reason, she didn't care that I was trying to conquer my fear. I didn't have any more time to think however; in just a few moments, she was back, with a fat, brown Weedle dangling from her beak.

"How did you catch that Weedle so quickly?" I asked, amazed.

"I just got lucky," Thunder explained, her speech muffled by the Weedle. "I ran into a Weedle just seconds after I left." She began rubbing the Weedle's big stinger on a nearby tree trunk.

"Why are you rubbing the Weedle's stinger on a tree trunk?" I asked curiously.

"To get rid of the poison," Thunder explained. "The Weedle's poison flows into the tree bark, making the bug safe to eat." She dropped the Weedle to her feet. "It's just a technique I came up with soon after I joined my flock."

"That's a very smart idea," I complimented, once again amazed by Thunder's intelligence. "I used to think that only Fearow, with their tough stomachs, could manage to make meals out of Weedle."

"Not anymore," Thunder said proudly. She picked up the Weedle by its lower end and hopped towards me. "Another technique I came up with is this," she said. Using the Weedle's tail stinger, she cleanly sliced through the String Shot, one sticky strand at a time. The strands fell to the ground, and I sighed with relief as I flexed my clawed feet.

"Thanks so much, Thunder," I sighed gratefully. "I never knew that Weedle could be used like that. I thought they were just food."

"They _are_ food!" Thunder exclaimed, dropping the Weedle on the ground. "The cool thing about Weedle is that they can be made into good meals after you use them as tools" She nudged the bug towards me. "Why don't we share this Weedle? That's what good _friends_ did, back in the flock."

I tensed. Thunder had emphasized the word "friends". What did this mean? Then I had a horrible thought: _What if Thunder only wants to be friends with me, and nothing else? Does she know what I feel about her? Does she…_

"Aren't you going to eat, Lightning?" Thunder asked suddenly, interrupting my thoughts. "You know, Bug Pokemon don't taste that bad."

"Um, sure I'm going to eat," I stammered, tentatively taking a bite out of the Weedle. To my surprise, the bug didn't taste very bad at all. It did taste a bit like the Bug Pokemon food from the Azalea Town gym, but richer and meatier.

"You're right, Thunder; it doesn't taste bad at all," I said after the quick meal. "I guess I was wrong to be so scared of Bug Pokemon."

Thunder nodded and stretched her wings. "Perhaps aquatic Pokemon don't taste very bad, either," she said. She rose into the air. "Come on; let's hit the road again." With that, she darted through the treetops and disappeared from sight.

I sighed, with no choice but to follow her. _Oh, Thunder,_ I thought miserably, _how can I make you understand what I feel about you?_

 _To be continued…_

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View~~~~  
_ _~~~End~~~_


	11. Chapter 10

"Goldenrod City! Finally!" I exclaimed with delight.

Lightning and I had been traveling for half a moon since we left Ilex Forest. Our journey had become a fixed routine: Every morning, we'd wake up with the sun and catch a bit or two to eat. Next, we'd head north towards Goldenrod City, taking a few rest stops to get some water or rest our wings. At sunhigh, we'd catch some more food; then, we'd hit the road again. At sundown, we'd feast on a final meal before going to sleep.

It was a simple, straightforward routine, and we'd gotten used to the lack of excitement. Now, however, the faint skyline of Goldenrod City lay in the distance, while the early morning sun glowed faintly in the cloudless turquoise sky. Our bellies full with our latest meals, we hovered in the air with Goldenrod City in our views.

"Let's go already!" Lightning exclaimed with delight. "I heard that there are a lot of cool sights here."

"Not so fast, Lightning," I cautioned. "From here, Goldenrod City looks much bigger than Violet City. What if we get lost? I think it would be a good idea to ask someone knowledgeable for some help."

Lightning laughed. "How are you supposed to know if someone is knowledgeable?" he asked. As if to answer him, a strong gust of wind buffeted his feathers. "Another reason why we should go directly into the city," he said, shivering. "This wind is really picking up."

I was about to agree when a faint cry of "Help!" floated towards me, carried by the strong wind. Straining to make out the direction of the sound, I faced the wind, my eyes watering as the chilly draft buffeted my face. Then I heard it again: the cry for help was weaker this time, but I could tell that it belonged to a female.

"Did you hear that, Lightning?" I shouted over the roar of the wind. "Someone's calling for help!"

Lightning cocked his head, making a great effort to hover in one place despite the draft. "I didn't hear anything," he said earnestly. "Are you sure the wind isn't playing tricks on you?"

"I'm sure I heard something," I insisted. "I've lived in the wild for a year, so I know the sounds of the forest. I'm sure that a Pokemon just called for help."

"Really?" Lightning asked. "All right, Thunder; let's go check it out. Please don't make this a stupid practical joke."

"It's not," I said with certainty. I darted into the forest, towards the direction of the cry. Lightning followed quickly. These woods were less dense than the Ilex Forest, but the trees still shielded us well from the driving wind. I sighed, relieved that the wind would no longer be a problem.

"Help!" the voice called again, weaker than before. Taking a deep breath, I accelerated, my surroundings whizzing past me in a blur. Lightning kept pace beside me, the extra speed not bothering him at all.

Finally, we came to a small clearing. I gasped when I spotted a metal cage. In it curled a weak-looking Miltank, her body barely small enough to fit inside the cramped cage. Slowing down, I circled the clearing a few times before landing next to the cage.

The cage looked tough and intimidating. Crackling blue electricity flowed between the cage's metal bars. It also danced between the Miltank's pink and black hairs on her fine pelt. Just by seeing that, I knew for sure who had committed this dastardly deed, and I hissed my angriest hiss possible as Lightning landed lightly next to me.

Lightning hopped forward, taking a closer look at the wretched Miltank. "It's Hilda!" he exclaimed with shock. "Hilda, what are you doing out here in this horrible cage?"

Hilda groaned weakly. "Need some Cheri Berries," she moaned. "Can't move."

"Oh!" Lightning exclaimed, embarrassed. "Stay here, Hilda. We'll get some Cheri Berries for you." Puffing up his chest, he launched into the air. I followed him slowly, puzzled.

"What is this all about, Lightning?" I asked. "How do you know this Miltank – er, I mean, Hilda?"

Lightning shook his head. "I'll tell you later," he mumbled. "Let's go find some Cheri Berries." With that, he flew off into the woods.

I flew the other way, scanning every bush carefully in hopes of spotting one with bright red Cheri Berries growing on it. Instead, I spotted one that bore round, blue Oran Berries. This will do, I thought, landing lightly next to the bush and plucking off as many juicy berries as I could hold. After all, Hilda looks pretty exhausted.

I returned to the clearing to see Lightning peering worriedly into the cage, his beak full of Cheri Berries. I landed next to him, dropping my Oran Berries.

"She's fainted," he whispered, gently placing his Cheri Berries next to my Oran Berries. "Hilda must have used the last of her energy to call for help."

"I'll just make some berry juice for her, then," I said, trying to remember my berry lessons. Looking around, I spotted a large leaf and a small, sharp stone on the ground. I hopped over to the leaf and then to the stone, clasping them in my beak. Next, I hopped back to the piles of Cheri and Oran Berries. I grabbed two Cheri Berries and two Oran Berries, placing them gently on the leaf. Then, I grasped the stone in my beak and used it to slice and crush the berries until they disintegrated into a tasty-looking, purple-colored juice.

"All done," I breathed, carefully grabbing the stem of the leaf with my beak. Slowly, I pushed the leaf through the cage's lethal metal bars.

Lightning hopped forward, almost touching the cage. "Hilda," he said softly, "wake up and drink this berry juice. It'll make you feel better."

Hilda moaned, sniffed, and forced her eyes to open. Groaning, she lapped up a few sips of the berry juice. She sighed with relief, her body relaxing and the evil electric currents in her fur disappearing into thin air. Flexing and stretching her four legs, she quickly gulped down the rest of the berry juice.

Within a few seconds, the leaf had nothing but a few droplets of the purple berry juice clinging to it. Hilda blinked her eyes a few times a lifted her head, apparently feeling much better, though the cage was too small for her to sit up in.

Suddenly, Hilda seemed to notice who had rescued her. She gasped with surprise. "Lightning!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing out here? And who is this other Pidgeot? Is she your mate?"

Lightning tensed, and I felt my face turn bright red. "Mate?" I yelled. "I'm not his mate! We may be traveling together, but we are definitely not mates! What makes you think we are? I'm his friend, that's all. By the way, my name is Thunder." I shook my head, changing the subject. "You see, we're on a journey to find my former trainer, Ash Ketchum."

"Hey; I've met Ash before!" Hilda exclaimed, perking up. She smiled smugly. "Of course, his wimpy Pokemon didn't stand a chance against my powerful Rollout attacks. But oh well… at least they weren't flying-types like Lightning. I remember battling him, and his typing made my Rollout hurt even more."

"Whoa, whoa," I interjected, completely confused. "Lightning, who is this Hilda and how do you know her?"

"You see, Hilda is a very famous Pokemon – Gym Leader Whitney's Miltank, in fact," Lightning explained. "Back when Falkner was ten years old, he officially became Gym Leader of Violet City. There was a pretty cool ceremony on the Indigo Plateau – the traditional welcoming-the-new-gym-leader ceremony. All the gym leaders of Johto – except Bugsy, who was still too young to become a gym leader – attended the ceremony along with their star Pokemon. I got to battle against Hilda, but…" He hung his head. "I lost, because Rollout really hurt, considering that it's a Rock-type attack."

"Don't worry, Lightning. You're stronger now," I reassured. I turned to Hilda. "But Hilda, how did you end up in this horrible cage? If you're Whitney's star Pokemon, she'd protect you from harm at all costs."

Hilda sighed. "I was running away," she moaned.

"From what?" Lightning asked.

"Whitney."

"What?" Lightning asked with disbelief. "But you're Whitney's most powerful Pokemon! You're what makes her the toughest gym leader of Johto! Why would you run away from her?"

"I was just tired of the Goldenrod City Gym, in many ways," Hilda said angrily. "Moonshine, Ivy, and the others were so mad at me, I barely had any time to hang out at Milton's farm, I had to participate in every single battle, all the battles were far to easy for me, Whitney kept giving out pity badges, Whitney just –"

"Whoa, Hilda, slow down!" I exclaimed, interrupting her. "Can you please explain everything that happened, slowly and one at a time?"

Hilda sighed. "You see, Whitney makes me participate in every single gym battle," she began. "She trains me so hard that she barely trains my friends: Moonshine, her Clefairy, and Ivy, her Nidorina. Did I mention that I battled Ash before? A little while after Ash left, Moonshine and Ivy totally stopped being my friends. They were like, 'Oh, Hilda! You're too powerful! Whitney only cares about you!'"

"Wait," I interrupted. "What happened that made Moonshine and Ivy not like you? I'm sure that they couldn't have randomly started to dislike you for no reason."

Hilda sighed. "You see, after Ash Ketchum lost against Whitney in the official gym battle, Whitney challenged Ash to a friendly battle at Milton's Miltank Farm, using only me against Ash's Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Pikachu. And in that stupid battle, Ash's Pokemon somehow, someway managed to beat me! After his lame little Cyndaquil and Totodile stopped my Rollout, all it took was one single Thunderbolt from his totally overpowered Pikachu to knock me out for good. It wasn't an official battle, but it was the first time I had been defeated legitimately in any battle for six whole months. Therefore, although she still had two totally healthy Pokemon left, Whitney ended up giving Ash a badge."

"A pity badge!" Lightning hissed. "It wasn't even an official battle? Falkner would never give away a stupid pity badge, no matter what!"

"Whitney's given away a million pity badges since she became a gym leader," Hilda growled. "Whitney was so used to defeating challengers and giving pity badges to them that she was so completely shocked when I lost against Ash. She began giving me almost no free time at all – no more fun in Milton's awesome farm, no more time to hang out with Moonshine and Ivy. She just trained me like crazy and polished my Rollout and my other moves – Attract, Stomp, and Thunder Wave. Whitney, like, completely forgot about Moonshine and Ivy, making them completely pissed off at me.

"Last night, I became completely tired of my annoyed friends, the extra training, and Whitney. So before Whitney could recall me into my Pokeball for the night, I ran away from her. When I got onto the streets, I rolled. Whitney chased after me like crazy, but I rolled as fast as I could until I got into these woods."

"But how did you get into this cage?" I asked.

"What cage?" Hilda asked lamely.

"The cage you're in right now, of course!" I snapped, frustrated at Hilda's stupid joke.

"Oh, I thought you freed me already." Hilda said sheepishly. "I was so busy talking to you that I forgot that I was still captured!"

Lightning groaned. "She's really forgetful," he muttered. "Just like her trainer."

"How did you get into this cage?" I asked again. "Please don't tell me that you forgot how."

"Oh, no," Hilda said quickly. "How I got into this cage was so interesting that even someone like me couldn't forget about it."

"Fill us in," I said quietly, tensing. I needed to confirm my hunch on who had captured Whitney's star Pokemon.

Hilda closed her eyes. "I remember coming to this clearing to rest a little and munch on some grass," she began. "But before I could take a bite, I found that I couldn't move at all. This really scary-looking blue electricity or something surrounded me completely. I was like, 'Huh?' but I couldn't move! Then I saw her: this totally creepy eighteen-year-old girl. She wore a weird glove on her left hand, and the blue electricity was just coming right out of her left hand's second finger!

"And then… well, her right hand reached into her bag and pulled out a Pokedex. She pointed it right at me. 'Course, I was, like, expecting the thing to say, 'Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokemon'. But instead, it played a quick five-note scale. The strange young woman smiled evilly. 'Jolly', she said. 'A perfect nature.'

"And then… the weird electricity around me disappeared! I tried to run, but that shadowy trainer reached into her bag and pulled out this strange metal ball. She threw it at me, and oh my, that trainer has really good aim! It hit me on my back, and before I could even say, 'Ouch', that metal ball sprang open into a cage that was just big enough for me.

"I was panicked! I rammed against the cage, but then a horribly painful electric jolt coursed through me, almost as powerful as the Thunderbolt from Ash's overpowered Pikachu. I screamed, but that trainer just stood there and smiled evilly. I tried everything to get out of this cage – Rollout, Stomp, whatever. But every time I touched the cage's horrible metal bars, another jolt of electricity met me. Finally, I fell to the ground, dazed.

"And then that trainer said, 'You're mine now!' She threw an Ultra Ball at me, but because I belong to Whitney, it just bounced off my head. The trainer caught the Ultra Ball and hissed. Then she noticed the tag I wear all the time on my tail, the one that has Whitney's name and address on it. 'So you're Whitney's famous Miltank!' she exclaimed angrily. She put that Ultra Ball back into her bag and smiled evilly. 'But not for long.' And then she just left me here in this horrible cage. The end."

There was a long moment of silence. Then I spoke. "Hilda," I said softly, "I know who captured you, because I've been through the same thing."

"Really?" asked Hilda. "What is this shadowy trainer's name?"

"K", I said softly. "Nature Hunter K. Lightning and I encountered her in the Ilex Forest… she said that I was 'Adamant', which was apparently a 'good nature'. I guess that 'Jolly' is a good nature too. I almost got caught by her – she also captured me in an electric cage like yours."

"But that's poaching! It's illegal!" Hilda exclaimed angrily. "She isn't even using her own Pokemon to weaken the Pokemon she wants to catch! She's using those horrible cage-balls instead!"

"Which makes her very dangerous," Lightning growled. "Where is K now?"

Hilda gasped. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "I forgot! As K left, I heard her say, 'Well, I guess I'll have to talk to Whitney.' Then she started walking in the direction of Goldenrod City!"

"What?" Lightning yelled. "That means K is going to try to convince Whitney to let go of you! How could you forget that this happened?"

"Who cares that I forgot? K could be at Goldenrod City right now!" Hilda exclaimed urgently. "Thunder, Lightning, do you know how I can get out of this cage without electrifying myself?"

"You have to use a move that doesn't make direct contact with the cage but can still damage it," I said quickly. "Hilda, I know that Stomp and Rollout make contact. Lightning, can you do anything?"

Lightning shook his head. "The only attacking moves I know are Quick Attack and Wing Attack," he grumbled.

"I guess it's up to me, then," I said confidently. "Brace yourself, Hilda! This might get a bit rough!" I quickly launched into the air as Lightning flew out of the way and Hilda curled up into a tight ball. Flapping my wings with all my might, I launched a powerful Gust attack. The tall trees bent as the powerful draft forced their leaves to tumble away helplessly in the wind, and Hilda growled as she struggled to defend herself against the gale. Finally, the lethal metal cage gave up its hold of the ground and tumbled away. It landed at the edge of the clearing, where it crashed into a sturdy tree. There was a splendid crackling sound as the cage's metal bars bent and the evil electricity in them disappeared into thin air.

I stopped flapping my wings. "Let's all get to Goldenrod City as quickly as possible!" I shouted. Hilda nodded and quickly started rolling, easily dodging the trees in the forest. Lightning rose into the air, a determined light glowing in his eyes. We rushed back to the road, and soon we were traveling to Goldenrod City at a breakneck pace.

 _K must be eviler than I thought if she's trying to steal a Pokemon who already belongs to a trainer – a very famous trainer, in fact,_ I thought bitterly as I flew speedily in the vast blue sky. _I must be careful._

 _To be continued…_


	12. Chapter 11

The tall, intimidating skyscrapers of Goldenrod City pierced the cloudless blue sky as Lightning, Hilda, and I slowed to a stop by the great city gates. Humans, walking or riding skinny bicycles, crowded the tangled streets of the thriving metropolis like a swarm of Beedrill. _Wow; Goldenrod City is much, much bigger than Violet City,_ I thought as I tilted my head back to marvel at the enormous buildings.

"Now what do we do, Hilda?" Lightning asked. "I think the humans would be surprised to see three Pokemon wandering around the city streets without their trainers."

"Actually, they'll be totally cool about it," Hilda replied confidently. "Those silly humans are so preoccupied by their own little businesses that they don't ever say a thing whenever I roll around the city streets. Just stay way above the humans and follow me! I know the city like no one else!" With that, she launched into a Rollout and rolled into the city.

"Don't count on getting to the gym soon," Lightning said quietly to me as we flew quickly after her. "She probably doesn't know the city as well as she thinks she does."

"But we don't know the city at all," I said quickly. "I think it would be better to follow her than to try to find the gym by ourselves."

Lightning nodded as he flew higher in the sky. I followed him as Hilda led us around sharp corners, down busy streets, and through narrow alleys. Lightning and I grunted as we made the sharp turns; as Pidgeot, our long wings were more suited for straight, long-distance flying. The clamor in the streets below threatened to divert my attention, and I tried hard to focus on following Hilda, who was nothing but a fast-moving pink-and-black speck amongst the endless throng of humans.

Soon, I found myself panting with exhaustion. The enormous buildings of the city seemed to block out the clear, breathable air of the wide, open countryside. Lightning also seemed to be running out of energy: his movements were less smooth, and he slowly decreased his altitude until he was just a human-height above Hilda. I followed him, my wings aching from the sharp turns I had to make. Hilda, however, showed no signs of getting tired or slowing down. _So this is Hilda's famous Rollout!_ I thought, impressed. _I didn't know that it had endurance as well as speed and power._

Finally, Hilda skidded to a surprisingly fast stop in front of a large, domed building. _This must be the Goldenrod City gym,_ I thought as Lightning and I landed lightly in front of the tall gym doors. A piece of paper hung crookedly from a single piece of tape that seemed to be hastily taped to the door handle. _Oh, no, please don't say that Whitney isn't here,_ I pleaded as Lightning hopped forward to read the note.

"The Goldenrod City gym is closed," he read. "I am looking for my lost Miltank. If you know where she is, call my Pokegear at 3-667-6257. Signed, Whitney: Goldenrod City's gym leader."

"Oh, no!" Hilda exclaimed. "That means she could be anywhere! Oh, why did I run away?" She looked at Lightning with a puzzled expression on her face. "And by the way, Lightning, did you just _read_ that note?"

"Yep!" Lightning said proudly. "Falkner's been teaching me how to read ever since I was a Pidgey."

"Lucky," Hilda sighed. "All Whitney does with me now is training and battling." She stared hopelessly at the note. "What do we do now? How are we supposed to find Whitney?"

"Well, let's start by looking around the Goldenrod City gym," I suggested. "If we can't find her around here, then we can split up and search for her around the city."

"Good plan," Lightning said. "Let's go."

I launched into the air, flying close to the gym wall in hopes of hearing sounds that might give away Whitney's presence. Lightning flew behind me, and Hilda prowled slowly on the ground below.

Suddenly, I heard indistinct female voices floating out of an open window of a small annex. The window was large and low enough to look into while standing up. Tensing, I landed silently next to the window and looked inside. Lightning and Hilda followed, not making a sound as they took their places at the window.

The scene that greeted my eyes would have been mundane and dull – two females sitting at a table and drinking tea – if the two females weren't familiar individuals. At one end of the table sat whom I knew had to be Whitney: a pink-haired teenage girl with a white T-shirt and white shorts. And at the other end, disguised with a black leather jacket and black pants, was none other than Nature Hunter K.

"So she was right!" Hilda whispered in horror. "But what is Nature Hunter K doing in that disguise?"

"Shh," I shushed. "Let's see what K is up to."

Lightning, Hilda, and I peered into the window and listened carefully. "Who are you anyways, and what do you want with me?" Whitney asked.

K removed her sunglasses and polished the large, shiny badge on her jacket. "I'm an official Pokemon League Inspector," she said calmly. "My name's Katie, and I need to talk to you about your overpowered Miltank."

Whitney tensed and took a quick sip of her tea. "I lost her yesterday," she said quietly. "Have you found her?"

K shook her head. "That is not the reason why I need to talk to you."

"Then why are you here? I need to go and find my awesome Miltank!"

K pulled a few papers out of the black briefcase that sat next to her. "We've received a great number of complaints about your current role as Gym Leader of Goldenrod City," she explained, holding up one of the papers. "This particular letter was from a thirteen-year-old female trainer who seems to be dissatisfied with your Miltank.

"'I thought I could beat Whitney easily,' it says. 'After all, I started by sending out my Machop. But Whitney started with her Miltank, and it mauled by whole entire team in less than five minutes. It started by immobilizing my Machop with Attract. After that, its overpowered Rollout attack fainted my Machop, my Sentret, and even my Bayleef like they were nothing. And we trained so hard for this battle! If thirteen-year-old girls like me can get beaten by Whitney so easily, what will befall the much stupider ten-year-old boys?'"

Whitney sighed, closed her eyes, and leaned back into her chair. For a long time, she was silent, and I thought we should let Whitney know that we were watching her. However, before I tell Lightning and Hilda what to do, Whitney spoke.

"Maybe you're right," she sighed. "Maybe my Miltank _is_ overpowered. But does that really matter? Even trainers who lose to me get a badge, for trying really hard and fighting well."

"I'm afraid those badges are pity badges," K said sharply. "As you know, the Johto league has a rule: no pity badges are to be given to trainers. Other gym leaders like Falkner and Clair adhere to this rule pretty well, but you don't. I think you should give challengers more of a chance to win, by not using that Miltank of yours."

Whitney slammed her teacup onto the table so hard that the tea splashed onto her white clothes. "Katie, are you serious?" she yelled angrily, ignoring the tea stains. "How can I not use my Miltank! My other Pokemon aren't strong enough!"

"Which means you should train your other Pokemon to be worthy battle opponents," K said calmly. "You only train your Miltank, so it's grown much too powerful for a gym leader's Pokemon. Do you ever give your Miltank any free time? Your Miltank should have a life of its own – which should consist of many things, not just battling. I wouldn't be surprised if your Miltank's run away from you, considering how less freedom you give it."

Whitney gasped. "Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "That must be what happened to my Miltank! I've got to go find her!"

"Whitney, calm down," K said sharply. "I know where your Miltank is – "

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because you don't really need your Miltank."

"What? But she's my star Pokemon!"

K sighed. "Whitney, I found your 'star Pokemon' in a forest. She was sleeping soundly in a sheltered clearing, so I decided not to disturb her." K finished her tea in a few quick sips. "Whitney, here's the deal: I'll show you where your Miltank is if you agree to give her Pokeball to me. I'll send her to a Pokemon Resort for six months, where she can relax and unwind without having to worry about battling."

That was too much for Hilda, who had been growling and bristling the whole time. "No way!" she yelled as she jumped through the open window and into the room. "Whitney, K is _not_ sending me to a Pokemon Resort. She wants to capture me for her own selfish purposes!"

Whitney stood up. "Miltank!" she gasped in surprise. She ran over to Hilda, giving her a hug. Whitney glared at K, as if the truth of the matter suddenly came to her. "Guess what, Katie? Turns out you've been wrong. My Miltank still loves me! You saw her sleeping in the dangerous wild and you didn't return her to me – just because she was 'too powerful'? What kind of a Pokemon League Inspector are you?"

K stared at Hilda, a look of pure anger and shock crossing her face. She hissed, her blue eyes burning with sheer rage. "What?" she growled. "How did she get out?" K whirled around, as if to confront whoever freed the Jolly Miltank she wanted so badly for herself. "Who freed her? I demand that you show yourself!"

In a flurry of wings and feathers, Lightning and I sprang into the room. The bright, artificial lights on the ceiling beat down on me, and I winced as the blinding rays shone into my eyes. Lightning, however, seemed undaunted by the sudden change in brightness. He glared resolutely at K, puffing out his chest and standing tall. "We freed Hilda," he hissed, "and we're not going to let you capture her!"

"Well what do you know!" K exclaimed. "My Adamant Pidgeot and its stupid friend with the tracking device." She whisked on her dark sunglasses, transforming instantly from Pokemon League Inspector Katie to Nature Hunter K. "I guess today's my lucky day – I'm going to get two good-natured Pokemon."

"What?" Whitney screamed. "So you're not a Pokemon League Inspector after all? You just want to capture my Miltank?:

"Precisely," K growled, pulling several metal balls out of her briefcase. Grunting, she began to throw them at Hilda and I.

"Get away!" I screamed. Lightning and I darted away from the open window in opposite directions, and Hilda launched into a speedy Rollout. The room instantly became a scene of chaos: K's metal balls knocked over small pieces of furniture, shattered glass, and dented the ceiling fan as Lightning, Hilda, and I skillfully dodged the capturing devices while Whitney ran to the telephone. Suddenly, I heard a scream. I whirled around, breathing heavily. Then I gasped in horror at the sight I saw: Whitney, her face paler than her clothes, sat trembling in one of K's horrible metal cages.

Hilda skidded to a stop next to me. "But why would she target Whitney?" she whispered. I tried to explain, but before I could reply, K pulled two Pokeballs and two Ultra Balls out of her briefcase.

"Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard!" she screamed. "Attack those Pokemon!"

She threw the Pokeballs towards us. One by one, the fierce-looking Flying-types appeared in flashes of bright white light. I watched in horror as the Charizard charged at Lightning while the Gyarados lunged at Hilda. But before I could help them, the Skarmory and the Golbat launched into the air and charged right towards me.

 _What?_ I thought angrily. _Two against one? That's not fair!_ I knew, however, that I had to fight back. Grunting, I began to flap my wings with all my might, in an attempt to blow away both of the attacking Pokemon with Gust.

"Skarmory and Golbat, Brave Bird!" K screamed. "Gyarados, Waterfall! Charizard, Flamethrower!"

With a screech, the Skarmory launched into a powerful Brave Bird attack, and the Golbat followed. I hissed and flapped my wings even harder, but my Gust didn't seem to affect my opponents at all. Hissing and screeching, they sliced cleanly through the tearing wind. I could almost feel the seething fury in the Skarmory and Golbat's eyes – they seemed ready to fight to the very end.

The impact was devastating.

The two Brave Bird attacks slammed into my chest like a giant wave, only sharper and more painful. I screamed as I fell to the ground, my chest aching with pain. This was horrible – in my whole entire life, I had never experienced an attack this powerful. Trembling, I got up, only to see the Skarmory charging at me, its wings glowing with white light. I squeezed my eyes shut, shielding myself with my wings. My heartbeat faltered as I waited for the impact, my capturing, and the end of my journey.

Suddenly, I heard a metallic clang. Slowly opening my eyes, I gasped at the sight I saw. My wings weren't soft and tawny-colored anymore: they were glowing with a white light and seemed to be made of solid steel. The Skarmory was trying to pierce my shield with its metallic wings, and it hissed angrily as my own silver wings held steady. I had just used a move that I'd never used before: Steel Wing!

A newfound strength flowed through me. Hissing, I launched again into the air, pushing the Skarmory away. The Golbat, emerging from behind the Skarmory, growled as a brown, sticky Sludge Bomb shot out of its gaping mouth. I skillfully dodged it and sent it back with a mighty push of one of my steel wings. It splattered onto the Golbat's face, and it howled angrily as it tried to brush the sticky sludge out of its eyes.

"Clefairy, use Metronome!" Whitney called.

The battle suddenly stopped in mid-action as all eyes fell onto the little pink Pokemon, whom I knew had to be Moonshine. Her arms glowed with a blue light as she waved them, chanting a rhyme: "Eenie, meenie, miney, moe, catch a Growlithe by the toe. If he hollers, let him go, eenie, meenie, miney, moe. Metronome says to pick the very best move and I choose you: R-O-A-R Roar!"

Moonshine closed her eyes as the blue light on her arms faded away. Then she opened her mouth and let out a deafening Roar attack. Everyone in the room covered their ears as the invisible sound waves crashed onto K's Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard. Screaming and hissing, the four Flying-types glowed with a read light before disappearing and retreating into their Pokeballs.

For a while, K stood there, her blue eyes blazing with rage. Then she hissed angrily, as if she knew that she had lost the battle. She turned and fled, and we watched her disappear down the city streets.

Lightning landed lightly next to me, his feathers charred and burnt from the battle against K's Charizard. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. "That wound on your chest looks pretty bad."

"I don't think I have much energy left," I breathed, trembling and aching from my ordeal. "I'm afraid I might faint at any moment now."

"Should I let Whitney know that you need help?"

"Not right now. I need to tell you something, before I run out of energy?"

"What is it?"

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Nature Hunter K is Falkner's sister," I gasped with the last of my energy. Then I groaned and fell silently to the ground.

 _To be continued…_


	13. Chapter 12

~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~  
~~~Lightning~~~

"Nature Hunter K is Falkner's sister," Thunder gasped as she closed her eyes and slumped silently to the ground.

"Thunder, no," I whispered in horror. I nudged her lightly. She was breathing, but her breaths were weak and irregular. A nasty-looking wound scarred her chest, where the double Brave Bird attack had impacted her. Smaller scratches covered the rest of her body and her feathers were dirty and matted. It wouldn't be fair to say that Thunder was the only one who was injured – after all, Hilda and I bore wounds from our fights against K's Gyarados and Charizard – but those wounds, compared to Thunder's, were harmless scratches that could easily be cured by a few sprays of a Super Potion.

I closed my eyes and sighed as Whitney's Clefairy walked over to Thunder and placed her hand on Thunder's head.

"Your friend's condition looks very critical," Moonshine said softly. "She needs proper medical treatment right away."

I whirled around. "Where's Whitney?" I asked urgently. "She needs to get Thunder to the Pokemon Center right away."

Moonshine's gaze traveled to an open door at the back of the destroyed room. "She's talking to the police," she said quickly, "and should be finished pretty soon."

"Good," I sighed. Suddenly, I heard footsteps as Whitney walked into the room and gasped.

"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed as she crouched next to Thunder's limp body, grimacing as her eyes fell upon the ugly wound on Thunder's chest. "We need to get you to the Pokemon Center right away." Whitney scanned the room until she spotted Hilda. "Miltank, can you help Clefairy carry this Pidgeot to the Pokemon Center?"

* * *

Blink. Blink. Blink.

I sighed as I stared aimlessly at the blinking red light above the Pokemon Center's exam room's sliding gray doors. A large white sign with red lettering hung on the doors – "Authorized Personnel Only," I read. I growled and stamped my foot. _Why can't I see Thunder?_ I thought angrily. _I want to know how she's doing!_

"You really care about that friend of ours, don't you?" a voice sounded from behind me.

I turned to face Ivy, Whitney's Nidorina. After Whitney healed Hilda and I with two Super Potions and explained the situation to her other Pokemon, Whitney and all her Pokemon had agreed to wait for Thunder with me – after all, Whitney had an announcement to make to all of us. Now, Hilda and Moonshine sat on a bench on the other side of the spacious Pokemon Center, talking to each other quietly. Whitney stood in front of a videophone, reporting my location to Falkner.

I sighed, too worried about Thunder to talk to my trainer. "You see, Ivy, Thunder's my friend now, but I want her to be more than just a friend," I said softly, staring at my feet. "It's kind of weird… she's not that pretty. But she's super smart, creative, and is a very spirited battler." I looked at my feet, blushing. "All right, Ivy, I admit it – I _do_ care a lot about Thunder… but I'm not sure how to tell her how I feel about her."

Ivy smiled broadly. "Aha!" she exclaimed happily. "I _knew_ that you loved her!"

"Please, Ivy…" I groaned, embarrassed.

Ivy giggled lightly. "You were very brave to tell me your true feelings," she declared. "Now, if you want to tell Thunder that you love her…"

"Quiet down! Moonshine and Hilda will hear you!" I snapped.

"All right," Ivy said quietly. She looked up at me. "For your information, Lightning, the male Pokemon is usually the one who tells a female that he wants to be mates with her – not the other way around. For that reason, it's up to you to – " She stood up on her hind legs and fluttered her eyelids at some imaginary Pokemon. "Look at her in the eyes and say clearly, 'I love you. Can we be mates?'"

I sighed and closed my eyes. "First of all," I growled, "that's too direct. Thunder may hate me if I said that to her. Second of all, I tried talking to her once, but she quickly changed the subject. Third of all, males like me don't _say_. They _do_."

Ivy face palmed and got back down to stand on all fours. "Lightning, don't you know how much females _hate_ it when males try to impress them by _doing_ stupid things?" she groaned. "You may think of something as impressive, but Thunder may think of it as stupid."

"True," I grumbled, recalling the time when I had tried to catch a Caterpie, failed very badly, and made Thunder laugh at me. "Ivy, how do you know all this stuff anyways? How old are you? Do you even have a mate?"

Ivy giggled slightly. "I am older than you think," she said simply, "and I do have a mate. His name is Oak, he lives on Milton's Miltank Farm, and he's the best-looking Nidorino I've ever seen." She sighed, and an expression of sheer loneliness filled her eyes. "I used to visit him a lot, back before Whitney started giving all her attention to Hilda," she groaned. "Now I don't get to see him or my sons very much."

"I'm… s-sorry," I stammered, unsure of what to say. "But I'm sure that Whitney now understands the importance of taking care of all her Pokemon. After all, her indifference almost forced her to give up Hilda."

"Yeah," Ivy said slowly. "I hope I get to see Oak soon." She nodded. "I have one more tidbit for you, Lightning. Do you know how Oak proposed to me?"

"How?" I asked, out of plain curiosity.

Ivy smiled warmly, as if to recall that magical day. "He said, 'We belong together.'"

I stamped my food in exasperation. "Seriously?" I asked, annoyed. "That's all?"

"That's all you need to know," Ivy said wisely. "You know, I think you should propose to Thunder the way Oak proposed to me. Remember, _names_." With that, the Nidorina turned and trotted to Moonshine and Hilda.

 _Names_ , I thought, trying to figure out Ivy's mysterious message. _Names_. Suddenly, I gasped. Oak and Ivy were the names of poisonous plants that were often found growing together in wild places – and the names of two Poison-type Pokemon who belonged together.

My mind raced. _In nature, thunder and lightning are always together_ , I thought excitedly. I took a deep breath. _I know what to do now. I just need to find a thunderstorm and a safe place to admire it…_

~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~  
~~~End~~~

With a great effort, I forced my eyes to open.

I was standing on a dilapidated wooden tower's ground floor. I could tell that it had been neglected for a long time – piles of dust and soot covered the floor, and giant holes gaped in the wooden walls. Silky Spinarak webs hung from the ceiling, and I heard the tiny pitter-patter of paws as a Rattata scampered by in the darkness. Most of the wooden planks that made up the rickety structure were broken and charred, as if some great fire had swept through the tower many years ago. The floorboards creaked as a chilly, ominous wind swept through the burnt tower and vanished into the lonely, starless night.

 _Where am I?_ I thought, trembling more from fear than from the bitter cold.

Suddenly, a piercing, high-pitched screech resonated from somewhere above me. Gasping, I looked up, only to see a ferocious Noctowl with blazing red eyes. It swooped towards me, and I screamed. I had seen Noctowl before, but this one was gigantic - this bird Pokemon was as big and tall as a Gyarados! Also, unlike, other Noctowl, its golden feathers glimmered with a dazzling sparkle. What was this giant golden Noctowl doing in this dilapidated tower?

Panting, I quickly leapt into the air, charging at the giant Noctowl with my most powerful attack: Double-Edge. The Noctowl, however, quickly danced out of the way. For some strange reason, it moved nimbly and freely despite its monstrous size and the confines of the tower room. Skidding to a halt, I turned around and charged at the Noctowl again. Suddenly, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't move at all. The Noctowl's eyes glowed with an eerie blue light, and so did my body – I was suspended in the air, completely unable to move.

 _No, not Psychic,_ I thought desperately. _Arceus, help me!_

Then, propelled by the giant Noctowl's psychic powers, I fell to the ground – hard. I groaned in pain, trying to heave myself up. However, I found myself immobilized in the evil blue light – again. With a mental shove, the golden Noctowl flung me from the ground to one of the tower's wooden walls. I tried to stay focused, but before I could launch an attack, another burst of psychic energy tossed me to the roof. Feebly, with all my muscles screaming with pain, I shielded myself with my newly learned move – Steel Wing. Unfortunately, the giant Noctowl's Psychic attack penetrated the shield easily, and I groaned as I rocketed to the hard, unforgiving floor.

This went on until I was on the verge of fainting. I lay on the floor of the burnt tower, breathing heavily. The Noctowl landed in front of me, with a satisfied, smug look glued onto its face. Suddenly, without any warning, the Noctowl disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke. Standing in its place was a familiar ten-year-old boy: my former trainer, Ash Ketchum!

"Ash!" I exclaimed with joy. Then my face fell. This trainer wasn't the Ash I knew: he bared his sharp fangs, while an evil, malevolent look gleamed in his red eyes.

"My dear Pidgeot," he sneered, "face it, weakling. Noctowl is much stronger and much better than you. _He_ has Psychic powers, and you don't. _He_ is a shiny Pokemon, and you aren't." Ash kicked me in the chest, and I groaned in pain. "Noctowl is my bird Pokemon, Pidgeot. Not you." He cackled evilly and disappeared in a puff of yellow smoke.

"Ash! Wait!" I cried. But only my lonely echo answered me.

I panted, trembling. My heart wrenched with hopelessness. Was Noctowl why Ash broke his promise to me? _How is that possible?_ I thought angrily. _I'm the second Pokemon Ash ever caught! So Noctowl's more special, just because he's shiny and has Psychic powers?_

Noctowl's red eyes – and only his red eyes – gleamed menacingly in front of me. "Yes," a voice hissed from somewhere in the dark void. "I _am_ better than you, Pidgeot. I _am_ better than you." With that, the evil red eyes disappeared.

I sighed, feebly sitting up and licking a wound on my chest. Then I stared angrily at the place where the red eyes had appeared and disappeared, hissing and growling at the empty air.

"I hate you, Noctowl!" I screeched.

* * *

My eyes flew open.

Pure, blinding whiteness engulfed me as I blinked my eyes a few times, adjusting them to the sheer brightness. Slowly, I recognized a few distinct shapes: a plump pink Chansey with a hospital hat, the tall, thin figure of Nurse Joy, and the soft, white blankets that enveloped me in its cuddling warmth.

I was lying on a bed in a Pokemon Center.

 _Thank Arceus!_ I thought, relieved. _That was just a dream!_

"Are you all right, Pidgeot?" Nurse Joy asked worriedly. "I just heard you scream."

"I'm fine," I said shakily, the image of the red-eyed Noctowl fresh in my mind. Grunting, I stood up on the wheeled bed, the blankets sliding off my completely unscarred body. "Am I well enough to leave now?"

Nurse Joy smiled. I knew that she understood the essence of my words, if not the direct meaning of them. "Don't worry dear; everyone gets nightmares sometimes," she said cheerfully. "Are you ready to see your friends again?"

I nodded eagerly. The Chansey nodded back, removed my blankets, skillfully folded them, and slipped them into a small compartment under my bed. Next, Nurse Joy and Chansey walked over to the handle of my bed and wheeled it through the rooms and hallways of the Pokemon Center.

As the bed traveled through the strikingly white building, I thought about my nightmare, too disturbed by it to feel any nostalgia about my days as a frequent visitor of Pokemon Centers. Was this nightmare just a nightmare – or was it a message of some sort? Was Darkrai, the master of nightmares, trying to tell me why Ash broke his promise? What if what Ash said was true? Did Noctowl really outclass me by so much that Ash broke his promise to me?

Before I knew it, however, Nurse Joy wheeled me through a tall pair of sliding doors. I smiled with pleasure when Whitney, Hilda, Moonshine, Ivy, and Lightning came forward to greet me. They had gone through all the trouble of waiting for me!

"Thanks for waiting, Whitney," Nurse Joy said respectfully, dipping her head. "Your Pokemon has been completely restored to full health."

"Thank you very much, Nurse Joy!" Whitney exclaimed as I jumped off the bed and landed lightly onto the Pokemon Center floor. Nurse Joy nodded simply and, with the Chansey at her heels, wheeled the bed back into the exam rooms.

"You're healed!" Lightning exclaimed happily. "How was your first time in a Pokemon Center after Ash left?"

I shrugged. "I slept through most of it," I said uncomfortably, not wanting to break up the joyful reunion. "But why did Whitney and her Pokemon wait for me?"

Whitney clasped her hands together. "Well, now that Pidgeot's health has been completely restored, I can make my announcement," she said cheerfully. "Follow me, everyone!" She dashed to the other side of the Pokemon Center so fast that even Lightning had trouble keeping up with her.

Whitney sat on one of the Pokemon Center's benches, and her Pokemon, Lightning, and I gathered around her. Whitney gently petted Hilda's head. "Some of you may know this already, but a really creepy lady tried to capture Miltank," she began. Moonshine and Ivy gasped, apparently not knowing the whole story. "The lady, Katie, disguised herself as an official Pokemon League Inspector and told me that I don't give enough fun time to my Miltank," Whitney continued. "Katie said that I'm not giving my other Pokemon the attention they need, either. She almost convinced me to give her Miltank's Pokeball – she said she was going to send Miltank to a Pokemon Resort – but then these two Pidgeot jumped into the room, along with Miltank.

"Then it became clear that Katie wasn't a Pokemon League Inspector after all. She just wanted to capture Miltank for her own selfish purposes. Thankfully, these two Pidgeot had found Miltank in a cage in a forest and brought her to me. Katie even tried using her Pokemon to achieve her goal – but then Clefairy chased those troublemakers away with Metronome and Roar."

Moonshine smiled at the praise. Then Whitney stood up. "You know what, guys? Some of what Katie said was actually true."

"Huh?" Moonshine and Ivy asked, bewildered.

"Well," Whitney said, a bit embarrassed, "I think I _have_ been training Miltank so hard that she doesn't have much time to have fun anymore. You know what, girls? From now on, I think I'll give Clefairy and Nidorina more attention – while giving Miltank more free time."

"Thank you so much, Whitney!" Whitney's Pokemon exclaimed happily.

Whitney smiled. "It's about time I became a better listener," she said matter-of-factly. Then she leaned forward and petted Lightning's head. "Falkner told me that you're on a journey with your friend to find her former trainer," she said. "Do you want to stay longer, or do you want to leave now?"

"I think we want to leave now," Lightning said, dipping his head. He turned to me. "Come on, Thunder. It's about time we're on our way."

I nodded, and we backed away from the group, getting ready to leave.

Whitney nodded back. "I understand if you want to leave," she said sweetly. "For your information, trainers usually go to Ecruteak City from here. Just keep going north from here until you see a city with two ancient towers. You can't miss it."

"Thanks for the advice, Whitney," I said respectfully. Then I turned to Lightning. "Let's get to the country road quickly. We need to talk." I launched into the air, getting ready to fly through the front doors of the Pokemon Center.

"We need to talk, right?" Lightning asked excitedly. He closed his eyes for a while, not moving. Then he launched into the air like a rocket. "Yyyyyeeeeessssss!" he exclaimed with joy. "Let's GO!" he zipped towards the front doors.

"Lightning!" I yelled, flying after him. Lightning stopped in his tracks and looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.

I sighed in exasperation. "No, you're wrong," I groaned. "We're _not_ talking about love."

The devastated expression on Lightning's face after I spat out those words was so heart wrenching, it almost - _almost_ \- made me feel guilty… but not quite.

 _To be continued…_


	14. Chapter 13

Wind rushed through my feathers as I narrowed my eyes at the horizon, flying over the enormous buildings of Goldenrod City at a breakneck pace. Determined not to look behind me, I took a deep breath and accelerated to my top speed. The chaotic clamor of the city streets below faded into a distant whisper as I sliced cleanly through the tearing wind.

Suddenly, I perceived a change in my surroundings. The cold, gray skyscrapers of the city gave way to the lush, green trees of the countryside. Taking a deep breath, I gradually slowed down my flight. I spotted a nearby tree, circled around it a few times, and landed on its thickest branch.

A few quick breaths gave away Lightning's presence, and I turned to see him land heavily next to me – apparently, he hadn't expected me to fly so fast. He breathed deeply a few times before running his beak quickly through his ruffled feathers.

As I waited for Lightning to regain his strength, I closed my eyes and sighed. The fact that Lightning loved me – it was unavoidable, like a keen-eyed Fearow's speedy Aerial Ace attack. _Love,_ I thought, confused. _Such an unfamiliar word._ I shook my head. _Lightning's handsome, but we can't be together. Our trainers live too far apart – Falkner in Violet City, Ash on the path to the Pokemon League._ I stamped my foot angrily. _Why am I even admitting that Lightning is handsome? Unless…_

"Um, Thunder?" Lightning's voice sliced through my ribbon of thought like a Scyther's vicious Slash attack. "I thought… we needed to talk."

"Right," I said slowly, turning to face him. I almost flinched when I saw the lonely, hurt expression on his face. _Why did I have to hurt his feelings?_ I thought guiltily. I shook my head, deciding not to think about it for now.

"Well, there are two things, both of which are related to the progression of our journey," I began. "First of all, now I know the true identity of Nature Hunter K."

"Yes," Lightning said. "Before you fainted from the battle against K's Pokemon, you gasped, 'Nature Hunter K is Falkner's sister'." He looked down, thinking. "How is that possible?"

I sighed in exasperation. "Don't you remember the time Falkner received that letter from his sister, back when we were staying in the Azalea Town gym?" I asked. "His sister threatened to use nature to become the greatest Flying-type trainer of them all."

Lightning cocked his head. "She said that?" he asked, surprised. "Truthfully, I completely forgot what that letter said. It was so long ago!"

"Lightning, how can you possibly forget about something that important?" I hissed, barely resisting the urge to yank the forgetful male Pidgeot's plumes with my beak. "Falkner's sister said that she was going to use _nature_ – and who is more obsessed with a Pokemon's _nature_ than Nature Hunter K?"

Lightning closed his eyes, thinking. "Nature Hunter K catches Pokemon that have 'good natures'," he said slowly. "So she _is_ using nature to become a powerful Flying-type trainer!" Lightning sighed. "And here I thought that 'nature' meant plants and trees and such."

I smiled, trying hard not to feel a sense of smugness. "You see, Lightning, sometimes you just need to _think_ ," I said good-naturedly. "Sometimes, you have to think out of the box – words may have more than one meaning."

"Right," Lightning said warmly. "You know, Thunder, you're the smartest Pokemon I know."

I shrugged uncomfortably. "Oh, I believe there are more intelligent Pokemon out there," I said quickly, running my beak a few times through my chest feathers. "Well anyways, there is more evidence that Nature Hunter is Falkner's sister."

Lightning sighed. "Like what?"

"First of all, her Pokemon," I explained quickly. "Falkner's sister said that she had a Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard. Nature Hunter K has a Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, and Charizard – we 'met' them during our most recent battle. Also – are you listening? – K _looks_ a lot like Falkner. I mean, the two of them have the same dark blue hair, the same light blue eyes, and even the same hairstyle."

"Wow, you're right," Lightning said, sighing. "Now that I'm actually _thinking_ about it, K has a _lot_ of qualities that give away the fact that she's Falkner's sister." He launched into the air so suddenly and quickly that the small green leaves on the tree trembled violently in the gust of wind he generated.

"Whoa, Lightning!" I exclaimed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to Violet City, of course!" Lightning yelled back. "I mean, I've got to tell Falkner that we've found his sister!"

"Wait a second, Lightning," I said firmly, and Lightning sighed and landed back onto the branch.

"Seriously, Thunder?" Lightning asked grumpily. "What could possibly be more important than warning Falkner?"

"Lightning, _we can't even speak the human language_ ," I said, exasperated at Lightning's stupidity. "How are we supposed to tell Falkner that we found his sister? Sure, if we had Team Rocket's over-intelligent Meowth with us right now, we could go back to Violet City. Actually, we wouldn't be able to go back to Violet City, because Meowth can't even fly."

"True," Lightning groaned. "But if Nature Hunter K ever goes back to Violet City to challenge her brother, we need to be there for him!"

"Falkner can wait," I said adamantly, "because if I remember correctly Nature Hunter K only wanted to challenge him to a battle after she obtained her good-natured Pidgeot – me. And by the way, I had a horrible nightmare while I was lying unconscious in the Pokemon Center, and it is much more imperative than K and Falkner's battle."

Now it was Lightning's turn to be exasperated. "Thunder, considering your practicality, I don't think you'd believe in a dream in a million years."

My feet shifted uncomfortably on the tree branch. "But it had Ash in it," I said lamely.

"But really though, it was still just a dream."

"Lightning, it's a _nightmare_ , and a really important one. Can't I just tell you what happened in it?"

"If it makes you happy, _fine_."

"All right," I said happily, and I told him everything in full detail – standing on the ground floor of a dilapidated wooden tower, groaning in pain from the monstrous shiny Noctowl's powerful psychic attacks, and staring in disbelief as Evil Ash said that he didn't like me because Noctowl was more powerful than me.

"Hmm," Lightning said once my story was over. "You know, I think Darkrai was trying to tell you why Ash broke his promise to you."

"Exactly," I sighed. I closed my eyes, thinking. "But what should we do about this Noctowl? I'm not even sure if he is real."

"Well," murmured Lightning after a short pause, "Morty's Gengar is weak to Psychic attacks."

"Huh?" I asked lamely. "Who's Morty?"

"The gym leader of Ecruteak City, whose Gengar is a Ghost-and-Poison type!" Lightning exclaimed. "Challengers of that gym often use Pokemon with Psychic attacks, because Poison is weak to Psychic."

"I get it now," I said slowly. "If Ash challenged the Ecruteak Gym in his journey, he probably used Noctowl against Morty's Gengar."

Lightning nodded. "And if we can find Morty's Gengar and talk to him, then maybe we can find more about that mysterious Noctowl in your dream."

"Yeah!" I exclaimed, launching into the air. "Come on; we've got a Gengar to visit."

* * *

A cool, gentle breeze ruffled my feathers as I perched on a high branch of a great oak tree. The faint early morning sun peeked tentatively out from behind a mass of dreary gray clouds, and the air carried the cool, damp scent of rain. A small group of Hoppip drifted over the rather large metropolis that sprawled in front of me – Ecruteak City.

The historical city looked almost as nostalgic as Violet. Traditional-style buildings, with beautifully curved tiled roofs, made up most of the structures in the metropolis. Gray stone pathways weaved among the quaint little structures, and a few tranquil blue ponds dotted the city, here and there. The most amazing and impressive structures I could see were the two enormous ancient-looking towers resting at the back of the city. They towered like giants over the rest of the buildings, reaching up to touch the sky. Both buildings looked very old, but one was well maintained while the other was dilapidated, wooden, and burnt.

I gasped. That second tower was familiar – I knew I'd seen it before, but I couldn't exactly remember when or where. Then I recalled the nightmare I had when I left Goldenrod City. I closed my eyes, shivering as I remembered the enormous golden Noctowl with blazing red eyes. Painfully, I remembered everything: the old, dusty wooden tower room with floorboards that creaked from the ominous night wind, the Noctowl's eyes glowing with an eerie blue light as it controlled my helpless body with Psychic, my body falling to the splintery wooden floor with a painful thud…

"I know that tower," I whispered.

"Huh?" Lightning asked. He was perching next to me on the branch, surveying the city that sprawled before us. "What tower?"

"The old wooden tower over there," I said, my eyes gazing at the burnt structure. "Remember the nightmare I had back at Goldenrod City, the one with the monstrous golden Noctowl? Well, I was in a dilapidated wooden building, which was all burnt and charred like that tower."

Lightning followed my gaze, his eyes resting on the ancient structure. "If I remember correctly, that's the Burnt Tower," he said thoughtfully. "Hmm. If that tower was the setting of your nightmare, we can't be too far away from finding that Noctowl."

"Right," I said, smiling. I giggled a little. "You know, Lightning, you're starting to pick up some of my awesome intelligence."

"You really think so?" Lightning asked, beaming. He gazed into my eyes. "Thanks, Thunder."

For a short while, I looked back at him. The faint early morning sunlight reflected off his long, elegant plumes and turned them golden. I looked away uncomfortably, for I was beginning to feel strange and tingly inside. Lightning had never looked so handsome before, and I shook my head, confused. What was I doing? Why did I just let myself forget that Lightning was supposed to be just a friend? Heaving a quick sigh, I launched into the air and flapped my wings, trying to forget about what just happened.

"Thunder, what are you doing?" Lightning called from behind me.

"I'm doing what I came here for!" I snapped. "I need to find Morty's Gengar!"

"Wait a second," Lightning said sharply, following me. "Gengar's a Ghost-type, and from my experience, Ghost Pokemon can be very difficult to deal with."

"How can you be sure of that?" I asked, not really believing him.

"I've battled several of them at the Violet City gym," Lightning explained patiently. "They're really tricky. They can create illusions, vanish into thin air, and attack when you least expect it."

I sighed and turned around to face him. "Oh, great," I groaned. "Now what are we supposed to do?"

As if to answer my question, a deafening clap of thunder resonated from the dreary gray sky. A single drop of rain hit me squarely on my head, followed by another raindrop that bounced off my right wing. The rain picked up speed until it fell steadily in a medium shower, drumming softly on the curved tile roofs of Ecruteak City.

"I'm afraid we'll have to postpone our ghost hunt," Lightning said matter-of-factly. He looked around, searching for a place to seek shelter from the driving rain. "Aha," he said as he spotted the Burnt Tower at the back of the city. "It should be safe in there."

"Uh, are you sure?" I asked apprehensively, immediately recalling my terrifying nightmare. "It looks pretty… spooky."

"Which is why we're going there," Lighting said confidently. "If I remember correctly, Ghost-type Pokemon like to hide in dark, scary places. If we seek shelter in that tower, we just might come across some of Morty's ghosts."

"All right; I trust you Lightning," I said slowly as the first jagged lightning bolt of the storm fell from the sky. I gasped as it hit the Burnt Tower squarely on its tip, but a curious thing happened. Instead of zapping the fragile structure, the lightning bolt swerved, ran down the side of the building, and disappeared as it hit the ground.

"Whoa! How did that happen?" I asked, amazed.

"Lightning rod," Lightning explained quickly. "Come on; I don't want to get any wetter than I already am." He flapped his wings and began his flight to the Burnt Tower.

I followed him, narrowing my eyes and focusing on our destination. As I got closer to the old wooden structure, I saw that it was equipped with a thick metal wire that ran from the top of the building to the ground. _So that lightning rod safely leads all electricity to the ground,_ I thought, amazed at the intelligence of humans. _But why would they want to protect such a dilapidated structure?_

I followed Lightning through the front door of the building. Now that I was safely indoors, I sighed and shook all the rainwater out of my feathers.

"I'm so glad that we're dry now," I said as I looked around the ground floor of the building. It looked almost exactly like the ground floor in my nightmare, and I shuddered a little. "Okay, Lightning. Now that we're here, what do we do?"

Lightning peered around the room. "I think we should search for Morty's Ghost-type Pokemon," he suggested. "Remember, if you see something very bizarre or scary, don't panic. It's probably just an illusion, and to stop it, just yell the words 'We don't want to hurt you guys'."

"All right," I said. Suddenly, a piercing, high-pitched shriek resonated from somewhere above me. I looked up and gasped.

"It can't be!" I screamed.

"Huh?" Lightning asked. Then he looked up and his beak dropped open. "Is that the Noctowl from your dream?"

"Yes!" I yelled, terrified. The Noctowl was as enormous as ever, and had the same unusual golden feathers and blazing red eyes as the Noctowl in my dream. It emitted an ear-splitting shriek and dove towards me, wings folded as it executed an Aerial Ace attack.

My eyes darted wildly around the room. There was nowhere to fly except outside, where the terrifying thunderstorm still roared.

"We don't want to hurt you guys!" Lightning yelled bravely, but his call did nothing to stop the giant Noctowl's attack. Narrowing my eyes, I faced the gigantic Noctowl, readying a Steel Wing defense. I shielded myself with my metallic wings, closing my eyes and preparing for the devastating impact.

"Shadow, stop that right now!" A very angry male Pokemon's voice resonated through the area. It had a mysterious, eerie hollowness to it, and I knew at once that it belonged to a Ghost-type Pokemon.

Slowly, I folded my wings, opened my eyes, and surveyed the scene that stood before me: the giant Noctowl had stopped in its tracks; a Gengar, who was clearly the source of the voice, stood at the foot of the old wooden stairs; and Lightning watched the scene half-terrified, half-bewildered.

"What?" complained a female Pokemon's voice, which had the same ghostly, hollow quality to it as the Gengar's voice. "Night, these two Pidgeot just barged into our home without asking!"

The Gengar, whose name was apparently Night, sighed. "Shadow, with that horrible storm going on outside, it's clear that these two Pokemon just came in here to seek some shelter," he said as he walked closer to the giant Noctowl – or at least the illusion of the giant Noctowl. "I know, I know, you're just testing out your imitation of the shiny Noctowl that destroyed us four months ago. But I have to admit that it really isn't a nice way to greet our tired guests."

"Fine, fine," Shadow groaned. I watched in amazement as the shiny Noctowl faded away into thin air. In its place floated a Haunter, a female with a rather annoyed expression on her face. I watched as she floated up the stairs and out of sight, muttering "ugh, he always catches me" as she left.

Lightning hopped over to me. "Are you all right?" he asked, with a concerned look on his face.

I shrugged. "I'm fine," I said quickly. I eyed Night suspiciously. "Are all Ghost-type Pokemon like that?" I asked.

"Most of them," Night sighed. "Truthfully, I enjoy a good scare now and then. But when our guests are wet, hungry, or tired, I don't think it's a really nice way to greet them."

"No way," I growled. "Especially because I know that Noctowl. I have a hunch that that Noctowl is why my trainer broke his promise to come back to me."

"That kid named Ash is your trainer, eh?" Night asked with mild interest. He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you here? Ash passed through this place four months ago to destroy us at the Ecruteak Gym."

"Well, you see, Ash released me a year ago in the Viridian Forest," I explained uncomfortably. "He promised to come back for me, but he never has. That's why I'm on a quest with Lightning here to find Ash again." I glanced at Lightning with an expression on my face that clearly said, "You were right. Ghost-type Pokemon _are_ rather tricky to deal with."

"Night, I'm sorry if we've bothered you," Lightning said diplomatically, sending back a look that screamed, "Don't say anything rude to a Ghost-type!"

"Thunder had a really bad nightmare about Ash's shiny Noctowl," he continued calmly. "We figured that if there's one gym leader's Pokemon who's battled against that powerful Flying-type, it'd be you."

Night hissed angrily. "Don't even mention that destroyer's name! He's an insult to the dignity of the Ghost-types!" He turned away and groaned.

"Night, I understand that you are still upset about your loss," I said respectfully, "but all we need to know is how powerful that Noctowl is. Truthfully, I'm not too fond of that Flying-type, either. But I need to know more about him if I want to continue searching for Ash."

Night sighed and turned to face me. "I don't know how Noctowl grew to be so powerful," he groaned. "Ash's Cyndaquil and Totodile were wimpy, of course. But Noctowl… he's a freaking Normal-type and he destroyed us all!"

"Please, Night," I implored, "will you please kindly tell us about the battle? We'd be very grateful if you did."

"All right," Night said after a moment of consideration. "I'll tell you about the horrible battle, but no interruptions of any kind, okay?"

"Okay," Lightning said earnestly.

"Well," he began, "Dusk, Morty's Gastly, was up first, as usual. Ash sent out his overpowered Noctowl, which apparently surprised his friends because Noctowl was supposed to be the 'secret weapon'. Dusk and Morty were both a bit worried, but not too much because Noctowl was a Normal-type and we ghosts can all disappear into thin air.

"But then, that stupid Noctowl used Foresight and identified us all. Once that happened, we couldn't even disappear! Thankfully, Ash was one of the stupider challengers and constantly switched Noctowl with Cyndaquil and Totodile. They were both wimpy, of course. Before Morty's second Pokemon, Shadow the Haunter, had fainted, Cyndaquil and Totodile were both down.

"And then… Ash used his overpowered Noctowl again, because it was his last Pokemon. Seriously, we were this close to destroying that lame old bird. But then that horrible thing had to learn how to use Confusion!" Night stamped his foot angrily. "Needless to say, we got destroyed after that freaking shiny Noctowl learned a Psychic-type move. Curse my stupid half-Poison typing." He made an annoyed grumbling sound and floated away.

Lightning and I watched, perplexed, as Night floated up the stairs and disappeared from sight.

Lightning looked at me with a confused expression on his face. "Well," he sighed, "Night must be really mad about that Noctowl."

I nodded. "So mad about losing to a Normal-type that he didn't even say goodbye to us," I agreed bitterly. A terrible emotion was building up inside me – jealousy, rage, hatred, despair, and hopelessness all mixed up into a single horrible feeling. I turned away and closed my eyes. "That's it," I said listlessly as another loud clap of thunder shook the tower from base to tip, and a bright flash of lightning lit up the sky.

Lightning gasped. "Thunder, no," he hissed. "This isn't like you, at all. You visited the Violet City gym three months ago, determined to find Ash and asking me to help. I've sacrificed the comfort and glory of being Falkner's best battler, and we've been through so many troubles together. How can you give up now, after everything we've been through?"

I sighed, not looking at him. "There's no point in continuing our journey," I said listlessly. "I know why Ash broke his promise now. I've been replaced."

"You have not," Lightning said sharply. "Just because Ash has another bird Pokemon now doesn't mean he's forgotten about you!"

"Forget it, Lightning," I groaned. "He said he'd come back to me after running an errand for Professor Oak, but he didn't. Why didn't he come back? Noctowl, of course. It all makes sense: Noctowl is shiny, while I am not. Noctowl has psychic powers, and I don't." I sighed again. "I'm not stupid. I'm not going on a journey to find a trainer who doesn't even love me." With that, I launched into the air.

"Wait, Thunder!" Lightning called. His voice turned quiet. "What about me?"

Hesitantly, I turned around to face him. As I saw the hurt expression on his face, I cringed a little and landed in front of him.

I sighed. "I know what you're going to say, Lightning," I said softly. "But I need some time – some alone time – to think about it, I mean, everything that's happened today." I launched into the air again and hovered in front of him. "Just stay in the Burnt Tower, Lightning. If I come back by tomorrow morning, that means that I want to continue our journey. But if I don't come back, that means that I've given up. If that happens, go back to Violet City. Don't come looking for me, because I'll be flying back to where I belong – Viridian Forest." Without further ado, I turned and flew through the front door of the Burnt Tower.

I'd forgotten to check if the thunderstorm was still raging, but that didn't matter because it wasn't. Although the dreary, gray layer of rain clouds still hung stubbornly over the city, the cool breeze carried a new scent – the fresh, beautiful scent of the forest after a rain. I breathed the scent in deeply, feeling a little better.

 _I need to find somewhere to think,_ I thought as I scanned the city for a suitable place. As I spotted the other tower, the one that wasn't ruined in any way, I smiled a little.

 _This looks like a good place,_ I thought as I swooped in for a closer look. _After all, I kind of miss perching high above everyone else._

 _To be continued…_


	15. Chapter 14

As I flew closer to the magnificent tower, something shiny caught my eye. It was a gem, a beautiful, pink, heart-shaped gem. It lay, deserted but still in good shape, between two shingles on one of the tower's higher roofs. Despite my current situation and mood, the wonderful jewel stirred my curiosity. I landed lightly next to it and carefully examined the precious trinket.

 _I wonder how it got here,_ I thought as I picked up the Oran Berry-sized gem with my beak. As the jewel lay tightly grasped in my bill, I realized that it was actually a necklace – both ends of a single string were attached to the gem.

 _It's just a random human girl's trinket,_ I thought, about to put it down. Then another thought struck me. _But what kind of girl would lose a necklace way up here?_ My curiosity about the necklace and its origin was too strong to resist, so I tossed the necklace so that its string landed and rested comfortably around my neck. With the gem gently touching my chest, I sighed, launched into the air again, and flew towards the top of the tower.

Before I could think about anything, however, some dark-colored, heavy, falling object crashed into me. Grunting in pain, I fell back down to the roof where I found the necklace.

"Ow…" I groaned, rubbing my sore beak with my wing. I had fallen on my back, which was now aching with pain. With a grunt, I forced myself back onto my feet.

"All right. Who or what was that?" I demanded as I looked all around me. There was no one on the roof but myself, however, and I sighed in sheer annoyance. But then, just as I was about to launch into the air again, I spotted a pair of delicate human hands tightly gripping the awning of the roof. There was a quick grunting sound, and the owner of the hands – a caped, purple-haired girl of about thirteen – leapt skillfully onto the shingles of the roof.

The girl looked almost exactly like a true ninja. Her dark purple hair was tied into a bun, probably to avoid the possibility of hair strands falling over her eyes and impairing her vision. She wore the attire of the night-loving ninja: a tight, dark purple sweater; a pair of long, black pants; and a pure black cape that matched the colors of the dark, shadowy night.

The girl eyed me suspiciously. "You'd better not be Falkner's Pidgeot," she hissed.

 _Huh?_ I thought, confused.

"Whoa…" the girl breathed in awe. Slowly, she sat down onto the roof shingles and rubbed her eyes. She stared at me as if I were a new species of Pokemon. "Did you just… talk without opening your beak?"

 _Okay, this is getting very weird,_ I thought uncomfortably. _Now, what did I just do?_

"There! You did it again!" the girl gasped. She shook her head. "This is crazy. Either I'm dreaming or I've just met a talking Pokemon."

I closed my eyes, thinking. _I think I know what's happening,_ I thought slowly. _I think it's this necklace I'm wearing. Apparently, this gem allows me to communicate with humans through telepathy._

"Wow," the girl said quietly. She scooted a bit closer to me. "Are you special, or do all Pokemon have thoughts and emotions?"

 _You don't know?_ I asked, surprised. _Of course every Pokemon has thoughts, feelings, and personalities. Seriously, if you give this necklace to any Pokemon, I'm pretty certain that it would convey its feelings and thoughts to you._

"Wow," the girl said quietly, recovering from her surprised state. "I never knew that my necklace could do that… or the fact that Pokemon have feelings and personalities. Man, if I had known that earlier, I wouldn't be here."

 _This is your necklace?_ I asked. _Oh… here, you can have it back, and…_

The girl shook her head, interrupting me. "I must have dropped it during my ninja-training. It's okay. I don't want it anymore," she said firmly. "Falkner is a jerk, anyways."

 _What?_ I thought indignantly. _First of all, Falkner's really nice. Second of all, what does he have to do with all this?_

The girl sighed and narrowed her eyes at me. "You aren't Falkner's Pidgeot, are you?" she asked.

 _No,_ I thought. _I'm a wild Pidgeot… my name's Thunder. Lightning, Falkner's Pidgeot, was helping me on my journey to find my former trainer._ I shook my head. _How can you possibly call Falkner a jerk? He's always ready to help any Flying-type Pokemon in need, and he's a really skilled gym leader. Have you ever seen his Pokemon in action?_

"Thunder, you don't know what I've been through," the girl groaned. "Sure, you may think Falkner is so awesome, but to me…" she looked away. "It's a long, long story."

 _Can I hear it?_ I asked politely. I shrugged. _Seriously, I don't really have anything else to do._

"All right," the girl said slowly. "But promise you won't tell anyone about this, okay?"

I promise, I thought resolutely. I promise I won't tell.

"Thank you," the girl sighed. "Now, first of all…"

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~_  
 _~~~Lightning~~~_

Loneliness. Frustration. Boredom.

I perched on the highest roof of the Burnt Tower, dejection welling up inside me as I gazed listlessly down at the sprawling Ecruteak City. The view was beautiful – there was no higher place in the whole entire metropolis except for the top of the nearby Bell Tower. I desperately wanted to fly there right now, in hopes of a better chance of spotting Thunder, but her parting words echoed in my head: "Just stay in the Burnt Tower, Lightning. If I come back by tomorrow morning that means that I want to continue our journey. But if I don't come back, that means that I've given up."

I sighed. _Please come back, Thunder,_ I thought pleadingly. I sat there, bored to death, as I aimlessly watched to denizens of the city as they busily went about their daily errands.

Finally, unable to stand the horrible loneliness, I launched into the air and made a circle around the Burnt Tower. Spotting nothing interesting on the tower's exterior, I lowered my altitude slowly and flew through the front door.

I took a deep breath, expecting some scary illusion from Morty's Ghost-types, but nothing happened for a long time. Sighing with relief, I began to survey the single-roomed first floor, keeping my eyes peeled for anything interesting. Nothing caught my eye except for a few deserted Spinarak webs however, so I proceeded to fly up the stairs that led to the second floor.

Then an idea struck me. _If there are Spinarak webs here, there must be plenty of Spinarak around!_ The thought of hunting a Spinarak came to me – I was terribly hungry, after all, as I hadn't had a thing to eat since yesterday. Despite my situation, however, I found myself wincing at the thought of getting struck by a well-aimed Poison Sting attack.

 _If a non-poisonous Caterpie can assault me like that,_ I thought, recalling my failed first attempt at hunting a Bug Pokemon, _I don't know what a poisonous Spinarak can do to me._

Then another thought struck me. _Thunder,_ I thought dreamily, sighing. _I've got to catch a Bug Pokemon all by myself, or she won't ever love me._ The thought of not seeing the brave, intelligent female Pidgeot ever again made me shudder, so I flew more determinedly towards the second floor, keeping my eyes peeled for a Bug Pokemon.

I was very lucky. Right when I entered the second floor, before I could even examine the room, I spotted a small Spinarak. It was scurrying across the room as fast as its eight tiny legs could carry it, apparently trying to get back to its daylight-resting place.

My heart quickened as my eyes narrowed and instinct took over. Focusing at my target, I flew silently towards the Bug Pokemon, my muffled wing-beats inaudible even to the sharpest listener. Recalling Thunder's advice, I approached the Spinarak from behind, and dove towards it beak-first.

The small Bug Pokemon suddenly sensed my presence as it opened its mouth, readying a String Shot attack. _You won't get me this time!_ I thought determinedly as I quickly tackled the Spinarak into the air, making it lose coordination, and grasped it deftly with my hooked claws as it fell down.

It was over. The brief rush of adrenaline that I had felt, and the sheer excitement of hunting a Bug Pokemon successfully for the first time, vanished into thin air as my heart rate and breathing slowed down. But as I stared at the unmoving Spinarak that lay at my feet, a great sense of pride filled my heart.

I bent down, grasped the Bug Pokemon with my beak, and removed the poison by rubbing its pointy white stinger on the wooden floor.

 _Thanks for teaching me how to do this, Thunder,_ I thought gratefully as I launched into the air and flew down the staircase that led to the first floor. _You'll be so proud of me once I show you this. And once you've eaten to your heart's content, it's heart-to-heart time._

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View~~~~_  
 _~~~End~~~_

"My name is Janine," the girl began, "and I'm the gym leader of Fuchsia City."

 _Wait a second,_ I thought, confused. _But that's all the way in Kanto! What are you doing here in Johto?_

"Um… well…" Janine stammered, "You see, I flew here on my Crobat. I wanted to get as far away from home as possible."

 _But why did you come to Ecruteak City?_ I asked. _I think there are places in Johto that are more remote than here. And I think there's that land called Ho-ann, too, that's really far away._

Janine giggled slightly. "That's _Hoenn_ ," she corrected. She sighed. "I don't know. I guess I like the environment of Ecruteak City," she explained. "Everything here is serene, nostalgic, and calm, unlike where I come from. And this tower that we're sitting on right now, the Bell Tower… I don't know why, but it kind of has a magical aura to it, don't you think?"

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. She was right – there indeed was something special about this place. I could sense the presence of some unknown, magical force around me, but I wasn't sure what it was. After a while, I opened my eyes. _I agree,_ I thought slowly, _but please tell me why you flew away from Fuchsia City, where you come from._

Janine sighed again and looked away. "It's just that so much has gone wrong in my life," she said quietly. "Dad and the gym and Falkner – I mean, I'm only thirteen. Do they seriously think that I can deal with all of them at the same time?"

 _Don't be afraid to tell me what happened,_ I thought gently.

"All right," she said. "You see, my dad, Koga, is an Elite Four member of Kanto and Johto. And when he left, he made me in charge of the gym – but really, that was a terrible mistake. The first few months of being Gym Leader were great. But then I began a really horrible losing streak… that was when everything began to fall apart.

"The challengers were angry. They complained that I was too easy to beat, and they desperately wanted my dad back. So I tried calling my dad and explaining to him what happened, but it always seemed like he didn't want to talk to me. He always said that ever since becoming an Elite Four member, his schedule has been packed. When I finally managed to visit him personally, he insisted that I was fine the way I was, and that he didn't want to give up his position in the Elite Four."

 _But that's horrible!_ I thought, shocked. _What kind of father would care more about his title than his daughter?_

"Mine," Janine groaned. "But that isn't the worst part."

 _Right,_ I thought, remembering how scornfully the girl had mentioned Violet City's gym leader. _But why do you hate Falkner so much?_

Janine sighed. "Well, Falkner used to be a close friend of mine. When he was four years old, he and his mother moved to Fuchsia City. I became friends with him quickly… we were both really athletic and energetic, and we loved to cause all sorts of mischief by jumping across the rooftops of the city." She smiled briefly, recalling the wonderful memories, but the smile quickly faded away.

 _What happened?_ I asked. _Why aren't the two of you friends anymore?_

"He moved back to Violet City a little while before he turned ten," she said quickly. "His dad, who was Gym Leader at that time, wanted him to come back to his hometown. So Falkner and his mother packed their bags, caught his Pidgey in the surrounding forest, and headed back to Violet City.

"Falkner and I were really close friends though, and we stayed that way… in fact, we grew closer when my father became part of the Elite Four and started growing distant from me." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "I think we were more than just friends once, when I asked him to accompany me during my annual ninja training in Goldenrod City, because my dad wouldn't do it anymore. But…" her voice trailed away.

 _But what?_ I asked, trembling. I knew exactly what Janine was talking about: _love_. Something that had to do with love had made her really depressed, and for some strange reason, I barely – just barely – felt the teeth of my conscience gnawing at my heart.

Janine suddenly stood up, releasing the bottled-up anger she had been hiding for so long.

"I thought he loved me," she said angrily, not even tottering as she balanced on the slanted surface of the rooftop. "It didn't make sense. Falkner gave me that stupid old necklace you're wearing right now, and even let me hug him a few times. I should have known he never felt for me what I felt for him. He never hugged me back or anything. And when I finally got the chance to tell him what I really felt about him, that I wanted him to be more than just my friend, he said…" Janine sat down slowly, all the brief anger gone from her heart. Her face now bore and expression of hurt, hopelessness, and sorrow. I gasped. I'd seen that expression before, several times, and I winced.

"Falkner said that he was sorry, but he couldn't be with me," Janine said in a quiet voice that was barely above a tiny whisper. "He said that I was a really awesome girl and all, but we just couldn't be together. We were too far apart to be together… him in Violet City in Johto and me in Fuchsia City in Kanto. And… oh, this happened so recently, just a few days ago, and… I feel really heartbroken."

There was a long, long silence as I closed my eyes, a million different emotions filling my heart. I trembled. My guilt, my conscience, poked at my brain and gnawed at my heart so badly and so intensely that I couldn't take it anymore. Deep down, I knew that there was a better response to Janine's tragic tale, but my insistent conscience kept me from thinking about that phrase.

 _I'm horrible,_ I blurted out.

"What do you mean?" Janine asked, surprised. "You were a really good listener!"

 _I'm just as bad as Falkner,_ I thought sadly. _Oh dear. What was I thinking? I just rejected him for the same reason Falkner rejected you!_

"Don't feel too bad," Janine said hesitantly, trying to comfort me. "You had a reason, and an understandable one too… but who was it?"

 _Lightning,_ I thought longingly. _I know, he's Falkner's Pidgeot… but he's really, really handsome, brave, and strong._ I sighed, allowing all the feelings I'd been hiding for so long to tumble out. _I've been hiding what I've been feeling for him for so long, just because of that separation issue. I rejected him, but then I talked to you… and now I know how horrible being rejected feels. I can't let him feel that way. I've got to tell him what I really feel about him… that I love him._

For the first time in a long while, Janine smiled a little. "Then go ahead and tell Lightning what you feel about him," she said softly and kindly. "Don't be afraid. Just listen to your heart." She looked around. "Where is he, anyways? You've got to go and find him."

 _He's waiting for me at the Burnt Tower,_ I answered. _But what about you and your problems? I want to help you. I've got until tomorrow morning._

Janine shook her head gently. "Just having someone to talk to has helped me a lot," she said honestly, "because now I know that Pokemon are just as intelligent, friendly, and emotional as people. I think I've just got to listen to some of my challengers' advice and believe in my Pokemon. Maybe, if I treat them as my best friends, I'll win more battles and gain a greater understanding of everything in the process."

I nodded. _My former trainer, Ash, believed in his Pokemon all the time,_ I thought. _It really works – his Pikachu defeated Lt. Surge's Raichu single-handedly, without having to evolve._ I turned, getting ready to leave. _But what will you do about Falkner?_

Janine shrugged. "I'm not sure," she confessed, "but it's best to deal with my problems one at a time. I'll have to try to get over Falkner for now." She nodded. "Go ahead and find Lightning," she said gently. "I'll be fine."

I nodded back. _Well, I'll be off,_ I thought, launching into the air. _Goodbye, Janine! It's been nice talking to you!_

"Bye!" Janine called, waving. With that, I began my flight to the Burnt Tower. _Lightning,_ I thought dreamily, sighing happily as I thought of what his reaction would be when I confessed to him. _I admit it – I love you._

But then… what happened next happened so suddenly and so shockingly that I didn't believe what had befallen me for a long time.

There was a pale blue current of electricity. It appeared right in front of my face, and I gasped as the electricity zipped right past me and hit the side of the Bell Tower.

My heart stood still. I knew for sure what that meant.

Before I had any time to flee, however, another wicked bolt flew at me from behind the Burnt Tower. Thinking quickly, I dodged the zap, readying a Steel Wing and flying towards the ground. Taking a deep breath, I jammed my metallic wing into the earthly soil – just in time. The next current of blue electricity flew straight towards my body, but it suddenly changed course and struck my electricity-conducting Steel Wing. Not feeling a thing, I smiled with pleasure as the eerie blue current flowed out of my wing and disappeared into the ground.

 _You're not going to catch me that easily, Nature Hunter K,_ I thought with satisfaction as my wing returned to normal and I drew it out of the ground. _Your electric glove is useless now that I have Steel Wing and the knowledge of how a lightning rod works._

From the concealing shadow of the Burnt Tower came Nature Hunter K – Falkner's cold-hearted, eighteen-year-old sister. She hadn't changed a bit since when I last saw her – a pair of dark sunglasses and a lock of flowing blue hair concealed her cold, piercing light blue eyes, and her dark blue cape and pitch-black dress blended in easily with the shadows. Her lips were parted in a pleased, evil smile, and in her non-gloved hand she carried a Quick Ball.

"So you can talk, eh?" K asked evilly. Her smile broadened. "That's another reason for me to covet you. Jolteon, go!" she cried, hurtling the Quick Ball into the air.

I watched, too terrified to move, as the Quick Ball opened up and shot out a bright yellow beam of light that rapidly morphed into the spiky yellow-and-white Electric-type Pokemon. As the Jolteon landed comfortably on all fours, instinct took over. I turned tail and fled, my heart beating rapidly with fear.

"Jolteon, Thunderbolt!"

Thinking quickly, I readied a Steel Wing defense. But it was no use.

With a crackling sound, the wicked electric bolt hit me squarely and powerfully, and I screamed in pain as the horrible current coursed through my body.

Then the world, my world, went black.

 _To be continued…_


	16. Chapter 15

I awoke to an eerie silence. My whole body still aching with pain, I groaned and forced my eyes to open.

Solid metal bars, with crackling blue electricity dancing evilly between them, surrounded me. Beyond them, I could see nothing but utter blackness, engulfing me like a dark void.

 _Where am I?_ I thought wearily.

Suddenly, light washed over the room, stunning me and forcing my eyes to squeeze shut. I blinked them a few times, adjusting them to the dramatic change in brightness, and slowly studied my surroundings.

I was in a very small room with plain, solid metal walls. The prison-like place consisted of nothing more than the electric cage I was trapped in, and on the other side of the room was a pair of sliding doors made of metal and a small light switch. A female Jolteon – I recognized her as the same Jolteon who zapped me back at the Burnt Tower – was slowly padding towards me.

"What happened?" I groaned weakly as the Jolteon sat down comfortably next to my cage. I could tell that whatever had happened, I had not been healed – my body was still aching badly from the Thunderbolt attack that knocked me out.

The Jolteon dropped the small sack she had been carrying in her mouth and nudged it towards me with her paw.

"Huh?" I asked, staring at the small sack that had been pushed into my cage.

"It's yours," the Jolteon said curtly in a quiet voice.

Curious, I grabbed the bottom of the sack with my beak and emptied its contents. I gasped when I saw what the sack contained – a large pile of juicy blue Oran Berries, bright red Cheri Berries, and smooth yellow Sitrus Berries lay at my feet.

I glanced at the Jolteon, who simply nodded and said, "Eat."

"Thank you," I sighed as I bent down and feasted on the pile of berries. Their sweet juices quenched my thirst and trickled down my throat, and I sighed in contentment as the energy slowly flowed back into my weary body.

My health restored, I turned to the Jolteon, who was now calmly licking her paws and grooming herself.

"Ms. Jolteon, I really appreciate the berries, but can you please tell me where I am and how I got here?" I asked politely.

"I can't tell you anything," the Jolteon said sharply, not looking up. "K told me to make sure you don't escape. You should be grateful that I brought the berries."

Sighing, I swallowed an annoyed comment and took a deep breath to keep my cool.

"Listen, Ms. Jolteon," I groaned. "I _am_ very grateful that you brought the berries. But now that I'm healed, what do you expect me to do? Sit quietly in this cage until K comes and does something?"

"Precisely," the Jolteon answered curtly as she continued to groom herself.

"I can't do that. You see, my mate is waiting for me," I blurted out. "He's at the Burnt Tower, and if I don't go and see him by tomorrow morning, I won't ever see him again." The knowledge that I wasn't telling the complete truth weighed upon my conscience like a heavy stone. I shook my head. _I've got to get out of here,_ I told myself firmly.

"Sucks to be you," the Jolteon said simply.

My calmness vanished into thin air as I registered the blunt comment.

"Well, guess what?" I roared. "If you won't help me get out of here, I'll just have to do it myself." In my sheer rage, I forgot about the properties of the cage as I rammed at the metal bars with my most powerful and reckless Double-Edge attack. At the moment of contact, an evil current of electricity flowed through my body. Groaning in pain, I slumped to the ground and sighed as I stared angrily at the electric metal bars, which still closed me in despite my attack.

"Such a kid," the Jolteon sighed. "You're so ignorant. Don't you realize that this cage is bolted to the ground?"

"What?" I groaned as I looked around, only to find out that what the Jolteon said was true.

Hopelessness and despair welling up inside me, I took a deep breath and tried again for one last time.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Jolteon, but I can't be K's Pokemon," I said resolutely as I stood up. "You see, I belong to a trainer called Ash Ketchum, but he left me in the Viridian Forest a year and a half ago. He said he'd come back for me, but he never has. That's why I'm on a journey with Lightning, Falkner's Pidgeot, so I can find Ash and ask him why he broke his promise."

The Jolteon closed her eyes and stood up. She sighed, pacing around a bit as she pondered the situation.

"So that's why the Ultra Ball didn't work," I heard her mutter.

"Huh?" I asked, completely clueless as to what she was talking about.

"You see, after I knocked you out with a Thunderbolt, K tried to capture you with an Ultra Ball," the Jolteon explained. "It didn't work, though, so she just dragged you back to this blimp and dumped you into this cage."

"What?" I roared angrily. "Why would she do that? Doesn't she know that I _can't_ be her Pokemon?"

"Well," the Jolteon said slowly, "Pokeballs have a tendency to… well… _expire_."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"Um, it happened to my Pokeball," the Jolteon explained. "Back when I was an Eevee, I belonged to another trainer, but he never kept me in my Pokeball. One night, while I was sleeping soundly, I felt this flying projectile strike my head. It was a Dusk Ball, I soon found out… thankfully, it didn't work, but K still managed to catch me."

"Let me guess," I interrupted. "She threw an electric-cage-ball to capture you and waited a few months for your Pokeball to 'expire' before capturing you in a Quick Ball?"

The Jolteon's face bore an expression of genuine surprise. "How… how did you figure that out?"

I shrugged. "Well, you mentioned the fact that Pokeballs expire," I said simply. "So I pretty much figured out that K managed to catch you after your own Pokeball stopped working."

"Well, I suppose you're smarter than I gave you credit for," the Jolteon said, slightly impressed. "But that doesn't mean I'll be nice to you yet. Tell me – do you have a way to counter Electric-type attacks?"

"Steel Wing," I said almost immediately, smiling. "It works kind of like a lightning rod – you contact the ground with your Steel Wing, and all electricity gets attracted to it and flows from your wing into the ground. I just thought up that strategy one day, after observing the lightning rod on the Burnt Tower."

"What a strategy," the Jolteon said softly, with most of the coldness gone from her voice. "I've never heard of one like it." She closed her eyes. "All right. I admit it. You are smarter than the average Flying-type Pokemon, so I suppose you deserve a little bit of my help."

My heart leaped in my chest. "Really?" I breathed, not really believing what I heard. "First, I must know, how long does it take for a Pokeball to expire?"

"About a year and a half," the Jolteon answered. "By the time K captured me in the cage, I'd already belonged to my former trainer for a year, so she only had to wait about half a year before she could catch me in my Quick Ball."

"What?" I gasped. I narrowed my eyes, a sense of urgency filling my voice. "I'm sorry, Ms. Jolteon, but I've _got_ to get out of here, right now. You see, I've been out of my Pokeball for almost a year and a half. If I don't get out of here fast, K will capture me. She's wanted me as her Adamant-natured Pidgeot since the start of my journey to find my former trainer. So please, Ms. Jolteon, will you _please_ help me get out of here?"

The Jolteon shrugged. "I suppose so, considering that you aren't the birdbrain I thought you were. Well, first of all, I'm afraid I forgot to tell you my name. Please stop calling me Ms. Jolteon – call me Bolt instead."

"Nice to meet you, Bolt," I said happily, relieved that the Jolteon was no longer the self-centered, cold-hearted Pokemon she had acted like just a few moments ago. "My name is Thunder. All right, Bolt. Do you know how I'm supposed to get out of here?"

Bolt's voice suddenly became very hushed. "Your chances of getting out of here are one in a million," she said quietly. "This room we're in – it's made of solid, unforgiving steel, and the only way to open the secure door is by using a special card key that K keeps somewhere in her bedroom. I've never been in there before, because she gives her Pokemon guard duties during the night and tightly locks her door."

"Steel room, card key locked up in bedroom," I paraphrased. "Okay. What else?"

"The walls of the blimp. They're made of some material that isn't as strong as steel, but your chances of penetrating them are incredibly low."

"Very strong walls, almost impossible to penetrate. What about doors?"

"Not a chance. There's only one door that leads out of K's blimp, but that one is securely locked, made of solid metal, and watchfully guarded by Firestorm, K's Charizard that uses Flamethrower on you at the slightest provocation."

"Got it. What about windows?"

"Only one, and it's made of bulletproof glass. Iceheart the Gyarados guards that window every night and makes sure that nobody enters or leaves. And K just taught her how to use Stone Edge. One hit from those rocks, and you'll be out cold."

"Darn, that looks tough. Is there anything else I have to worry about?"

"Darkfang, K's Golbat, patrols the whole blimp and scans everywhere with her crazy night-vision. All of K's Pokemon wear interesting metal cubes with a button on them, and a press of that button will trigger an alarm in K's room." Bolt's voice suddenly became more hushed than usual. "But your real problem is Sharpclaw."

"Sharpclaw?"

"Sharpclaw the Skarmory is the eye in the sky. As K's most powerful Pokemon, he perches on the outside surface of the blimp every night and sees everything in his surroundings – Officer Jennies, fierce wild Pokemon, disturbances of every kind. And once he sees a threat, he usually doesn't need to press the alarm button he wears. Most of the time, that Impish-natured powerhouse just fights off the intruder by himself – and he always makes sure that the enemy never comes back."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "So let me get this straight," I groaned. 'To escape, I need to get past this electric cage, the solid steel walls, up to two tightly locked doors, Firestorm the Charizard, Iceheart the Gyarados, Darkfang the Golbat, Sharpclaw the Skarmory, and probably Nature Hunter K herself." I slumped dejectedly to the ground. "Darn it. How will I ever escape?"

Bolt sighed. "I'm not sure," she groaned, "unless you are willing to get a bit… violent."

"How violent?" I asked nervously. "I want to escape, but I do not want this to get out of control. After all, ramming into this cage a while ago really took a sizeable chunk out of my health."

"Are you willing to get involved in up to five vicious battles?"

"Well, I really shouldn't have attacked this stupid cage," I groaned guiltily, flexing my sore and slightly paralyzed muscles. "Ugh, I seriously need to learn how to control my temper."

"That's true," Bolt sighed, "but there's no use crying over spilled milk. In times like this, you have to use your brain and think of a solution."

"Yes," I said slowly as I closed my eyes, thinking of an escape plan. I could hear a few light paw-steps as Bolt padded restlessly around the room, her mind perhaps teeming with as many thoughts as mine.

Finally, after a very long moment of silence, I opened my eyes and lifted my head.

"Well," I sighed, "I'm afraid it's hopeless. I _do_ have a plan, but… if you're unwilling to help me, it won't work."

Bolt abruptly stopped padding around the room as she walked silently to my cage and delicately sat down next to it. She closed her eyes, sighing as she pondered the situation. After a while, she lifted her head and did something I'd never seen her do before – smile at me.

"Count me in," she said quietly. "I want to help you escape."

* * *

"You ready?" Bolt asked from the other side of the room, excitement crackling in her voice.

"Ready," I breathed, trembling.

"All right. Here goes nothing!" Taking a deep breath, Bolt opened her mouth and fired in quick succession five Shadow Ball attacks. As the dark orbs of energy soared across the room towards my cage, I closed my eyes and winced, preparing for the impact.

Five rather loud explosions resonated in the air as the Shadow Balls directly struck the metal bars of the cage. Shortly afterwards, I heard a noise that sounded like crackling electricity. A few seconds after the noise died down, Bolt spoke up.

"Open your eyes, Thunder. It's time for Phase Two."

The sight that greeted my opened eyes made me smile with pleasure – a large hole gaped on one side of the cage, big enough for me to fit easily through, and jagged fragments of metal littered the ground. The blue electricity that had been dancing between the bars of the cage was gone completely, and I sighed in relief as I stepped out of the confining prison.

"Okay, Thunder. Now we've got to make as much noise as we can," Bolt declared. "Ready, set, go!"

I nodded briskly before flapping quickly to the unforgiving steel door. With a loud battle cry, I readied two Steel Wings and began mercilessly beating at the door with them, while Bolt roared and fired off a barrage of Shadow Balls. The whole blimp seemed to quake as we executed our attacks, but the steel door stood as solid as ever.

"We're not loud enough!" Bolt exclaimed. "Keep on going!"

I roared angrily as I continued to mercilessly attack the door with my Steel Wings, occasionally throwing in a Quick Attack. Bolt narrowed her eyes as she fired off Hidden Power attacks as well as Shadow Balls. The noise was terrific indeed, and the explosions that resonated through the room made me want to cover my ears.

Suddenly, the metal doors slid open. For a moment, we just stood there in surprise as we stared up at Nature Hunter K, who had just opened the doors and was glaring at us with cold hatred in her eyes.

"Let's get out of here!" Bolt screamed, zipping past K. I launched into the air and followed her out of the room and through the blimp, panting as I flew down the dark central hallway. I could hear rapid footsteps behind me – K was running angrily after us, cursing and shouting. A few swift, steady wing beats meant that Darkfang the Golbat had spotted us and was now chasing us as well.

"Stop!" K screeched, as a Sludge Bomb attack fired off by Darkfang barely missed its target and hit the ground next to me. I gasped as I increased my speed, flying in a zigzag pattern over Bolt, who was trying as desperately to dodge the Sludge Bombs as me.

The window was in sight, and we could see the towering, twenty-one-foot tall figure of Iceheart the Gyarados as she turned to see what all this commotion was about. The ceiling of the blimp kept her in a rather scrunched-up position, but her eyes glittered with the cold gleam of the fanatic nevertheless.

"Gyarados!" K screamed. "Stop that Pidgeot with Stone Edge!"

With a roar, Iceheart readied the attack, sharp-edged bits of rock swirling menacingly around her serpentine body. Before she could fire off the attack, however, Bolt swiftly delivered a well-aimed Thunderbolt. Iceheart's roar of fury turned into a roar of pain as the wicked Electric-type attack hit her squarely. Shortly afterwards, she slumped to the ground, clearly unconscious.

"Jolteon! How dare you?" K growled as she fired a beam of paralyzing blue electricity from the glove on her hand. Bolt seemed to be completely unaffected by this attack, however. In fact, she seemed to be re-energized by it. Clenching her teeth, she ran even faster towards the window and began to fire off a barrage of attacks – Thunderbolts, Shadow Balls, Hidden Powers. I narrowed my eyes at the solid, seemingly unbreakable window as I readied two Steel Wings. Holding my wings out at my sides, I took a deep breath and charged at the glass with a Quick Attack.

Part of me wanted to close my eyes, to shield myself from the impact. But other emotions surged inside me – hope, courage, determination. With a loud battle cry, I charged into the glass window with my Steel Wing-Quick Attack combination. With a satisfied smile, I crashed through the allegedly bulletproof glass, smashing the window into millions of tiny pieces.

Caught up in the excitement of the moment, Bolt leapt through the open window after me. What she didn't realize, however, was the fact that the blimp had been cruising peacefully above the clouds the whole time. She was now falling through a dark blue sky, towards the earth at a breakneck pace, and her eyes were full of fear as she realized that there was no solid ground beneath her feet.

"Hang on!" I exclaimed as I quickly dove to fly under Bolt and catch her. She was quite heavy, and I found myself grunting a little, but I narrowed my eyes and continued my flight.

"Thank you, Thunder," Bolt sighed. Then she gasped. "Sharpclaw is after us! Don't worry, Thunder. I've got this." I heard a sizzling crackle of electricity as well as a shriek of pain.

"I've dealt with Sharpclaw," Bolt said quickly. "Okay, Thunder. You've got to fly as fast as you can, because K is really angry now!"

"Got it, but you'll have to hold on!" I exclaimed as I flew even faster, my heart racing in my chest as I broke through the layer of clouds.

The sight that greeted me made me gasp with surprise: a small town lay far below me, next to a vast blue expanse with white-capped waves – a large body of water that could only be the ocean.

"We're at Olivine City!" Bolt exclaimed as she struggled to hold on. "That's the Olivine Lighthouse over there!"

"Olivine City?" I asked. "But how did we get here? We were in Ecruteak City the last time I checked!"

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with autopilot," Bolt said as I heard another sizzling crackle of electricity. "Okay, K was riding on Firestorm and chasing us, but I just zapped the Charizard with a Thunderbolt. Firestorm is badly hurt, so K is now retreating back to her blimp."

"Really?" I asked. "I thought K was more persistent than that."

"She may be persistent, but she isn't stupid – at all," Bolt answered gravely. "She knows that if Firestorm takes another Thunderbolt, he'll fall hundreds of feet to the ground – and take K down with him."

"I see," I said as I swooped down towards the only familiar-looking building in the whole town – the Pokemon Center. Landing on the roof, I breathed a relieved sigh as Bolt climbed down from my back and plopped down next to me.

Breathing heavily, I took a moment to catch my breath and groom my ruffled feathers. Bolt did the same, and for a while, we just rested on the Pokemon Center roof, recovering from the exciting escape from K's blimp.

Finally, as the orange sphere of the sun began to rise on the horizon, I spoke up.

"How is it morning already?" I asked, a bit shocked. "It was late afternoon when K captured me back at Ecruteak."

"Actually," Bolt said uncomfortably, "you… were unconscious for a while before K told me to bring you the berries. And K likes to keep her blimp on autopilot during the night, so… that explains why we're in Olivine already."

"That makes sense," I said, nodding. Then, a realization struck me like a blast of cold air and I gasped in horror. "Lightning," I whispered.

"What was that?" Bolt asked.

"Lightning," I said quietly, my heart shattering. "He's my mate – well, I told you that he was my mate, but I was lying so I could escape more quickly. I told him that he was to wait at the Burnt Tower until I came back. If I came back by the morning, that meant I still wanted to travel with him. But if I didn't come back, that meant that I wanted to go on alone." My soul seemed to shrivel up in despair as I looked down and closed my eyes. "It's morning already, and it would take forever to fly back to Ecruteak City. Lightning… he's gone. He's flown back to Violet City and he doesn't even know that I love him!"

For the first time in probably my whole entire life, tears formed in my squeezed-shut eyes and splattered onto the bright red Pokemon Center roof. Somewhere deep inside me, I knew that this wasn't the way a Flock Leader would act like when confronted with a tough problem like this. But that didn't matter at that moment. Most of the time, I would consider crying to be uncharacteristic and immature, but this situation was the only exception.

So the drops of tears continued to fall from my eyes as I expressed the desolate, heartbroken feelings inside me. I was so overcome with emotion that I barely felt the gentle touch of Bolt's paw on my back. Tiny, peculiar, electrical charges were flowing from her body to mine – I realized suddenly that these shocks felt not painful but warm and calming.

"Shh, Thunder, it's all right," Bolt said quietly as she continued to send the therapeutic electricity into my body. "I understand how heartbroken you must feel right now about losing your mate. But just calm down, pull yourself together, and think: is Lightning really lost forever?"

"Probably… probably not," I admitted rather sheepishly after a pause. I sighed and rested my eyes on the gently undulating blue waters of the vast ocean. "I'm sorry. In normal circumstances I would not have acted that way, but Lightning… means a lot to me. At first, I just saw him as a friend, but now I know that he's more than that."

Bolt nodded understandingly. "So now, Lightning's probably in Violet City, or on his way to there," she said thoughtfully. "Since you know where he is, you might actually be able to do something about this." She looked down at the pink, heart-shaped gem that rested close to my chest. "Is that a… Soul Stone?" she asked in amazement.

"You mean the necklace I'm wearing?" I asked, completely puzzled.

"Yes, that," Bolt said excitedly. "I've heard of them before… they're really magical gems that can apparently give certain Pokemon the ability of communicating with humans telepathically. Tell me, Thunder, do you know if the Soul Stone works for you?"

"I know it does," I said, a newfound energy flowing into my body. "I… completely forgot about it in the rush to escape from K's blimp. But now that I'm thinking more clearly, I know what to do." With that, I launched into the air. "Come on, Bolt. Let's go into the Pokemon Center."

"Oh, I get it," Bolt said without hesitation. Nimbly, she leaped from the roof to the ground and trotted through the sliding glass doors of the building with me following close behind.

The intense white light of the Pokemon Center made me blink my eyes a few times to adjust to the change in brightness. A little bit of nostalgia hit me as I surveyed my surroundings: a Nurse Joy and a Chansey standing behind a desk at the back of the room. A few couches, coffee tables, and TV screens. When was the last time I saw those sights.

"Pokemon?" the Nurse Joy asked, puzzled, as Bolt and I entered the building. "Jolteon and Pidgeot, where are your trainers?"

 _Please, Nurse Joy,_ I thought, _I just need to use the videophones to call Falkner of Violet City. I have a very urgent message I must tell him._

"Gah! You're talking!" Nurse Joy exclaimed in shock.

 _Please, that doesn't matter right now,_ I thought urgently. _I'm pretty certain all the Pokemon Centers know the phone numbers of all the Gym Leaders in the region, and I need Falkner's phone number right now._

"…All right," Nurse Joy said slowly, still a bit confused. Reaching into a drawer under her desk, she pulled out a phone book and flipped through it as she walked to one of the videophones lined up against the side wall. "Ah, here it is, Falkner of Violet City." She punched in the numbers, and Bolt and I waited anxiously as the phone rang once, twice, three times…

"…Hello?" a familiar voice asked in a sleepy voice as a picture of Falkner's face appeared on the screen. He looked like he had just gotten up – his dark blue hair was unkempt and his eyes looked sleepy. When he saw my face on his screen, his expression changed completely. "A Pidgeot?" he asked, confused. "Who's calling?"

 _Listen, Falkner, it's me, Thunder, Ash's Pidgeot,_ I thought. _Okay, yes, I'm talking, so don't freak out. As you know, I left you a few months ago with Lightning, your Pidgeot, to find Ash. Well, things got complicated – I'll explain later – but Lightning should be flying back the Violet City now, if he hasn't arrived already. Is he here?_

"Umm… no," Falkner stammered, still quite shocked at the sight of a talking Pidgeot. The he gasped. "Why do you have… Janine's necklace?" he asked with surprise and disbelief.

 _That doesn't matter right now,_ I thought firmly. _Listen up – when Lightning returns to your gym, tell him that I – Thunder – am also on my way to Violet City. I have important news to tell both him – and you – so please make sure that Lightning knows what's going on and expect me at Violet Gym in a few months._

"Actually," Falkner said, "my newest team member will be able to get you here right now, if you wish." He smiled and held up an interesting-looking pink-and-purple Pokeball. "This very special Pokemon was sent to me by my dad, who is currently exploring the far-away Unova Region. Come on out, Natu!"

He tossed the ball gently into the air, and a light purple mass of energy broke out the Pokeball and materialized into the small Psychic Pokemon. As the Natu landed on Falkner's shoulder, I noticed that this Pokemon was indeed special: it bore the mark of a purple crescent moon on its forehead.

"Natu here is what is known as a 'Dream World' Pokemon – a special kind of Pokemon found only in the Unova Region," Falkner explained. "Dream World Pokemon have traits others of its species don't have – in Natu's case, it's the ability Magic Bounce, as well as the power to teleport very long distances."

 _Wow,_ I thought, amazed. _So… are you saying that I can actually get to Violet City right now?_

"Of course," Falkner said. "Isn't that right, Natu?"

"Yes," the Natu, whose high-pitched voice indicated that she was a young female, said, nodding. "Walker said that I was special!"

 _Then it's settled,_ I thought, knowing that Falkner had not understood the Natu's words. I turned to Bolt, who had been watching the conversation the whole time.

"Hey Bolt," I said in normal Pokemon speech, "What about you? Falkner's going to teleport me back to Violet City, but I'm not sure if you want to come along."

"Tell him that I'm coming along too," Bolt said firmly. "Nature Hunter K… well, I want to tell both you and Falkner more about her."

I nodded and turned back to the video screen. _Falkner,_ I thought, _This Jolteon here – Bolt – is going to come along with me to the gym, if that's okay with you. She also has some important information to tell you._

"Well, I've always been uneasy around Electric-types, but if it's important information, I want to hear it," Falkner said, nodding. "All right. You two are at… Olivine City, right?"

"Right," I said. "We're at the Olivine City Pokemon Center."

"Natu will definitely be able to make the teleportations," Falkner said confidently. He smiled. "Expect me at the Pokemon Center any time now."

 _Thank you… thank you so much for doing this for me,_ I thought gratefully.

Falkner winked. "You're very welcome. After all, I will always help a Flying-type Pokemon in need."

 _To be continued…_


	17. Chapter 16

My rapidly beating heart gradually slowed down as the peculiar sensation of teleportation faded away. As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw that my slightly cold and numb left wing was still resting on the forehead of Starlight, Falkner's Natu – we had to be in physical contact with her for the teleportation to work.

As the blue aura surrounding her disappeared, Starlight, who had been floating in the air using her Psychic powers, slowly descended to the ground. Falkner and Bolt opened their eyes and looked around, Bolt with a dumbstruck look on her face but Falkner remaining completely calm. I studied my surroundings as well – we were in a dirt battlefield with white markings and boundaries. Beyond that was a pale blue morning sky dotted with fluffy white clouds, and I could feel a light, warm breeze ruffling my feathers. We were at the rooftop battlefield of the Violet Gym.

I shivered a little, not from the wind but from the eerie sensation teleportation had given me – it was very strange, a feeling that could not be explained. All I remembered was that Falkner and Starlight had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the calm, ordinary Olivine City Pokemon Center, scaring the daylights out of the attending Nurse Joy.

"We're just here to pick up some friends," Falkner had explained, gesturing to Bolt and me. "Thunder and Bolt – Thunder's the Pidgeot, and Bolt is the Jolteon – need to quickly get to Violet City, so I thought I would use my Natu's Teleport to get them there instantly."

"Oh… all right," Nurse Joy had said slowly, still quite shocked about the fact that a gym leader and his Natu had appeared out of thin air.

"Glad to see you, Thunder," Falkner had said cheerfully, walking over to me and gently stroking my plumes. "How was your journey?"

 _Oh, both Bolt and I have a lot of things to tell you,_ I had thought. _Let's get back to the Violet Gym, and we'll tell you everything there._ I had eyed his Natu a little cautiously. _Is your Natu's Teleport… safe?_

"Oh, definitely," Falkner had answered. "It's a weird sensation, like you're falling through a bottomless pit, but I never get motion sickness or anything when I teleport."

"My name's Starlight, by the way," Starlight had chirped.

 _Okay,_ I had thought. _Now how do we do this?_

"It's simple," Falkner had answered as Starlight, held up by Psychic powers, lifted herself off Falkner's shoulder and floated in midair. "We all have to be in physical contact with Natu and close our eyes."

 _All right, let's do this,_ I had thought as I rested my left wing on Starlight's forehead. I had waited until Bolt touched Starlight's right wing and Falkner touched Starlight's left wing before I closed my eyes.

"Bolt, are you ready?" Falkner had asked.

"I'm ready," Bolt had answered.

 _She says she's ready,_ I had translated, _and I'm ready too._

"All right," Falkner had said. "Natu, Teleport us back to the Violet Gym!"

"Teleport, go!" Starlight had exclaimed. Before the word "go" left her beak, I had felt it – that peculiar sensation Falkner had talked about. Rapidly, the air had been taken away from me and my stomach had shot up into my chest. I had felt like I was falling, falling, and yet I had felt no nausea, pain, or fear. Though my eyes were closed, I had seen stars – multicolored ones that had flashed rapidly from the darkness.

And then, after just a few seconds, it had all stopped. Now, standing on a battlefield hundreds of feet above the earth, I folded my extended wing and blinked my eyes a few times to dispel the rainbow-colored lights that still flickered in front of me.

 _Whew,_ I thought, shaking my head. _That really was something._

"Yeah," Falkner agreed, while Bolt nodded. He pulled out a pink-and-purple Pokeball. "Thanks, Natu. Now take a good rest," he said as he pressed the Pokeball's center button. Starlight turned into transparent purple energy and disappeared into the strange Pokeball.

 _Maybe we should sit down,_ I thought, _because we really have a lot of things to tell you._

"That's right," Falkner said. "Bolt, you aren't afraid of heights, are you?"

Bolt shook her head.

"Good," Falkner said, walking to the edge of the battlefield, where a concrete wall that also served as a bench stood. Bolt and I followed him, and we hopped onto the wall as he sat down. Bolt made herself comfortable as I told my story.

 _So, in the beginning of our journey, Lightning and I were just friends,_ I began. I blushed a little. _But then… I saw the signs. Lightning loved me and wanted to be more than just friends with me, but at first I didn't love him back. And after arriving in Ecruteak City and hearing Morty's Gengar talk about his battle against Ash's Pokemon, I almost gave up on my quest to find him._

"Why is that?" Falkner asked.

 _Morty's Gengar talked about Ash's powerful Shiny Noctowl, and I deduced that Ash didn't come back because Noctowl replaced me,_ I thought. _I felt very dejected and heartbroken, so I decided to have some alone time to think about everything – Ash, Noctowl, and Lightning. I told Lightning to give up on me and go back to Violet City if I didn't come back to him by this morning._

 _So I thought about everything for a while, and I decided to go back to Lightning,_ I continued, not wanting to tell Falkner about Janine just yet. _But on the way back to the Burnt Tower, I was ambushed and captured by… your sister, Nature Hunter K._

Falkner stiffened. "Katrina?" he asked softly, shaking a little. "But… how can you be sure that she was my sister?"

 _Remember that letter you received from your sister near the beginning of our journey?_ I thought. _Lightning told me about it – your sister was going to use nature to become the greatest Flying-type trainer. And she wanted to get a good-natured Pidgeot to rival yours. And I – I was the Pidgeot she decided to go after._

"You?" Falkner asked, shocked.

 _Yes, me,_ I thought, nodding. _Using her Nature Checker, K – I mean, Katrina – determined that I had a good nature, Adamant. Because of that, she's been hunting me ever since we first met at Ilex Forest. Finally, in Ecruteak City, just as I was about to return to Lightning, your sister tried to capture me in an Ultra Ball – it failed, though, because I was still registered as Ash's Pokemon._

 _So she knocked me out and put me in an electric cage in her blimp. Bolt here was Katrina's Pokemon, but she changed sides and helped me escape. We landed in Olivine City, and that's where we called you._

"Wow," Falkner said slowly, closing his eyes. He sighed. "What a journey… and to think that my long-lost sister has been hunting you all this time… I thought she was gone forever." He shook his head. "But what are these 'natures' Katrina's so obsessed with? To her, there's apparently something more to them than personality, but what? And what has she been up to these past three years? She just vanished from her bed the night before my first day as an official Gym Leader…" He shook his head again. "So many questions, all of which I do not know the answer to."

"Actually," Bolt said softly, "I know many of the answers."

 _Bolt says she can tell you the answers,_ I translated. _Falkner, can you give my necklace to Bolt?_

"Yes," Falkner said as he removed my necklace and hung it around Bolt's neck. We watched as the Jolteon focused for a while. Then, via telepathy, we heard her speak.

 _Thunder? Falkner? Can you hear me?_ Bolt asked.

Falkner and I both nodded.

 _Okay, good,_ Bolt thought. _Listen up, both of you – I've been Katrina's Pokemon for quite a while. When she obtained me, I was still registered as another trainer's Pokemon, so she attempted to keep me inside an electric cage until my old Pokeball could expire and she could capture me. However, I have Volt Absorb as my ability, so I was immune to the electricity. I easily broke out of the cage, and after that, I explored her blimp, which also functions as her home, from bow to stern. Because I got to wander around a lot, I also got many opportunities to eavesdrop on Katrina talking to herself, which she did a lot._

"Go on," Falkner said patiently.

 _Falkner,_ Bolt thought, _would you mind if I told Thunder a bit about Katrina before she left Violet City? You know about this, but Thunder doesn't._

"No, I wouldn't mind at all," Falkner said.

 _All right,_ Bolt thought. _Thunder, you see, as soon as Falkner obtained his first Pokemon, Lightning, and the whole family moved from Fuchsia City to Violet City, Katrina and Falkner used to have little Pokemon battles against each other. Back then, Katrina only had her Sharpclaw, her Skarmory, and Falkner only had Lightning – back then, he was a Pidgey. From a young age, Falkner was a very talented Pokemon Trainer – he shoed an inexhaustible fighting spirit and a very close bond with his Pokemon. Katrina would have been a talented trainer as well – in fact, she had a very high level of intelligence – but something was missing._

"What was that?" I asked.

 _Katrina just couldn't see her Pokemon as her friend, comrade, or partner,_ Bolt thought sadly. _She just wanted to be stronger, and her Skarmory was essentially a… tool for her to use to become the person she wanted to be – and that person was a Flying-type specialist gym leader and maybe even a League Champion later on. However, because she lacked the strong bond with her Pokemon, she found herself losing battle after battle against her younger brother._

"That's true," Falkner said softly. "I told her again and again to treat her Skarmory as a friend, but she wouldn't listen to me because I was five years younger than her."

Bolt nodded. _Katrina tried very hard to find other ways to become more powerful, ways that didn't involve close bonds,_ she continued. _I guess she overcomplicated things a bit too much – she started by planning her future team, which was good, but then she started to observe every single Skarmory, Zubat, Golbat, Crobat, Magikarp, Gyarados, Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard, Spearow, Fearow, Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot she came across._

"That's true too," Falkner said quietly. "Katrina would watch our father's gym battles closely and go into the woods to observe the wild Pokemon there, but she never told me why."

"So Katrina's final team would be Skarmory, Crobat, Gyarados, Charizard, Fearow, and Pidgeot," I mused.

I knew that Falkner didn't understand me, but Bolt did, so she nodded.

 _Well,_ she continued, _as the years flew by, Falkner grew closer and closer to age ten, and Katrina grew more and more frantic. She made progress – she continued to observe her selected Pokemon and found out that Pokemon of a certain nature or personality seemed to usually outperform others of its species. For example, a Jolly Magikarp would usually swim faster than, say, a Bashful one._

"Interesting," Falkner sighed. "So all the observations Katrina made – she kept them a secret so she could become more powerful than me."

 _Precisely,_ Bolt thought. _However, all her efforts proved to be in vain. Because Sharpclaw, her Skarmory, didn't feel for her the way Lightning felt for Falkner, she continued her losing streak. As time wore on, their mom and dad always seemed to shower more love, praise, and attention to their son rather than their daughter. But there was a reason for that: Falkner, with his impressive fighting spirit, was clearly gym leader material, while Katrina was not._

"My parents knew that I had potential," Falkner added, "and I never ceased to impress them." He sighed. "Guess I never really paid attention to how my sister felt."

Bolt nodded. _Katrina grew hopeless and rejected, and as her parents continued to largely ignore her, her poisonous jealousy of her little brother festered like an unhealed wound,_ she continued. _She did all that she could – she trained her Skarmory a lot, caught an exceptional Zubat with a Jolly nature, and quickly evolved that Zubat into a Golbat. But Falkner made progress too – he caught a Hoothoot and a Doduo in the nearby woods and evolved Lightning into a Pidgeotto._

"I also developed close bonds with my newly caught Pokemon, and I trained them, too," Falkner added.

 _Yes,_ Bolt continued. _Well, finally, the big day came – Walker, Falkner's dad, who at that time was the Violet City Gym Leader, wanted to explore the faraway regions of Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova with his wife. Of course, he had to find a new gym leader for the Violet Gym, and naturally he chose Falkner._

"But wasn't Katrina furious?" I asked.

 _Of course,_ Bolt answered. _Thankfully, her parents noticed this and worked out a compromise with her: the Pokemon League Examiners would test Falkner and Katrina's abilities together by having the two of them have a Pokemon battle against each other._

"Wow. This is getting interesting," I said softly.

 _Falkner and Katrina both trained hard,_ Bolt continued. _On the day of the Pokemon League Exam, the examiners came. One of them refereed the battle while the other one sat at the sidelines, observing and taking notes._

"Bolt," Falkner said suddenly, "would you mind if I told the story of the battle? I still remember that battle as if it were yesterday."

 _Sure, go ahead,_ Bolt answered. _It would be better than if I told the story, because I don't remember all of the details._

"All right," Falkner said. "At that time, Katrina had two Pokemon while I had three, so to make things fair, both she and I were only allowed to use two Pokemon."

 _Go on,_ Bolt thought patiently.

"Katrina, of course, used her Skarmory and Golbat, and I used my Pidgeotto and Doduo," Falkner continued. "She began with Golbat, and I sent out Doduo. Well, let's just say that we both had our strengths and weaknesses. When it came to sheer force, Katrina was definitely stronger – her Golbat was speedier than my Doduo and could hit fast and hard. But my Doduo was nimble, and I had showered lots of attention on him – I had taught him how to use his two heads to his advantage, how to skillfully dodge attacks, and how to jump so high that he was almost flying.

"Well, at first, the battle went smoothly. Doduo managed to dodge many of Golbat's Bite attacks, all the while landing swift hits of Fury Attack. But when Bite finally did hit, it hit hard. Doduo cried out, fell to the ground, and almost ceased his movements. However, Doduo had developed a close bond with me and would keep on trying for his best friend. With a final push, Doduo staggered to his feet. Taking both Katrina and Golbat by surprise, he lunged forward and delivered a swift and powerful Quick Attack, plowing Golbat to the ground.

"'Get up, Golbat! Now!' Katrina commanded angrily, but Golbat refused to listen to her orders. Not even making an effort, Golbat ceased her movements and fainted.

"'Golbat is unable to battle!' the referee called. 'Falkner and Doduo are the winners!'"

 _Man, this is getting intense,_ Bolt thought, not moving a muscle as she took in the fast-paced story.

"I agree," I said softly, even though I knew that Falkner couldn't understand me. "Wow, Falkner, you're a pretty good storyteller."

"'I totally would have won if your stupid Doduo hadn't surprised me like that,' Katrina growled," Falkner said, continuing his story. "'But now it's time to prove that I'm stronger than you and worthy of more attention. Skarmory, destroy!'

"In a flash of light, Katrina's strongest Pokemon appeared, and I knew that the rest of the battle would be a tough fight – none of my Pokemon's attacks were particularly effective on the Steel-type. But when I saw the light in Doduo's eyes, I knew that he was ready to give it all he got."

 _How did it go?_ Bolt asked.

"Not well," Falkner sighed. "Doduo managed to hit first with Quick Attack, but he struck solid steel and did next to no damage. With a smirk, Katrina ordered her Skarmory to use Steel Wing. Skarmory raised his armored wing, which glowed with a white light, and with it plowed Doduo deep into the ground. The hole the attack created was so deep that I had to rush to the center of the battlefield and peer into it to check on Doduo. When I did, I discovered that he had fainted."

 _Yikes,_ Bolt thought. _Katrina definitely trained her Skarmory to be very powerful._

"Yes," Falkner said, nodding. "Sighing, I recalled my fallen Doduo, congratulating on a job well done. Then, I sent out my Pidgeotto – or, as you may call him, Lightning. But before I commanded him to make his first move, I called him to my side and gave him a little pep talk.

"'Pidgeotto,' I said, 'I know that this will be a tough fight for you, because that Skarmory of my sister's is very powerful. But I believe in you. I'll fight with you till the very end, so I hope you'll give it all you've got.'

"Lightning nodded, his eyes burning with an unbroken spirit. He flew towards the center of the battlefield, hovering in place and looking ready for battle.

"'Done with your little talk?' Katrina sneered. 'Well, it won't help you. I can guarantee that. Skarmory, Aerial Ace!'

"I had trained hard with Lightning and with him perfected our Agility and Quick Attack strategy," Falkner continued, "so I hoped we could utilize that strategy to win this battle.

"'Pidgeotto,' I called, 'Agility!'

"With impressive speed, Lightning barely dodged the oncoming Aerial Ace attack. He quickly disappeared into thin air and suddenly reappeared behind Katrina's Skarmory.

"'Now, Quick Attack!' I commanded.

"A streak of white light trailing after him, Lightning rammed into Katrina's Skarmory. This continued on for quite a few turns – every time Katrina's Skarmory tried to attack, Lightning would use Agility to get out of the way and deliver a swift Quick Attack from behind. Slowly and tediously, Lightning chipped away Skarmory's health."

 _Isn't that the battle strategy you're famous for?_ Bolt asked.

"Yes," Falkner answered. "Ever since my battle against Katrina, I've used that strategy a lot. Well, anyways, with each hit Skarmory took, Katrina became more and more enraged. Finally, just as Lightning was about to land another Quick Attack from behind, Katrina got an idea.

"'Skarmory,' she exclaimed suddenly, 'turn around and use Aerial Ace, quickly!'

"Our plan had been working like a charm, so Katrina's order took us by complete surprise. Frantically, I commanded Lightning to use Agility to dodge, but I was too late – Skarmory slammed into him with a powerful Aerial Ace attack that sent him flying."

 _Hmm, Katrina had a plan there,_ I thought, knowing that my thoughts would not be audible because I wasn't wearing the Soul Gem. _If Ash had been in the same situation as Katrina, he would have made his Pokemon plow Lightning to the ground._

"I desperately commanded Lightning to try a Quick Attack," Falkner continued, but he was disoriented and dizzy due to the Aerial Ace attack he had taken as well as his plummeting to the ground. Smiling, Katrina ordered her Skarmory to use Steel Wing, and before Lightning could pull himself together, Skarmory's wing glowed white and he viciously slammed Lightning into the ground. Probably Katrina had planned it, Lightning landed in the deep hole my Doduo had created."

 _Katrina certainly planned her strategies very well,_ Bolt thought. Because she was wearing the Soul Gem, both Falkner and I could hear her thoughts.

"Definitely," Falkner said, nodding. "Well, the situation looked grim – Lightning had hardly any health left and was stuck in a Doduo-shaped hole, while Skarmory still had plenty of energy. Katrina smirked.

"'Well, it all ends here, Falkner,' she said, smiling. 'Skarmory, finish it up with Aerial Ace!'

"With a roar, the metallic bird-like creature became cloaked with a white light and began charging towards the helpless Lightning. I was beginning to panic – one more hit and my sister would successfully win the battle and prove that brute force was better than love and willpower. I thought of the one thing Lightning had and Skarmory didn't, and utilized it to its full potential.

"'Pidgeotto,' I said calmly, 'you can do it. I believe in you, and I know you won't let me down. Please, Pidgeotto, just give yourself one last push and use Agility!'

"As that last word left my mouth, a huge explosion sounded and a large dust cloud rose into the air, obstructing my view of the battlefield. I closed my eyes, thinking that the battle was all over – but it wasn't. When I forced my eyes to open, I gasped with delight when I saw that Lightning was hovering in the air, still with some energy left inside him. Skarmory, however, had his head stuck miserably inside on of the narrow 'necks' of the Doduo-shaped hole. And because of his inflexibility, he was having a hard time freeing himself."

 _At the last moment, Lightning gathered up his strength and used Agility to get out of the hole,_ Bolt thought excitedly, _so Skarmory's Aerial Ace plowed deep into the hole without striking its target._

"Precisely," Falkner said, smiling. "Well, from then on, the battle was a breeze – as Skarmory continued to be helplessly immobilized, Lightning attacked relentlessly with Quick Attacks and Wing Attacks. With a final push, Lightning slammed Skarmory out of the hole. Katrina smirked, thinking that Skarmory was free and could finally attack. However, when she looked across the dusty battlefield, she saw that Skarmory had ceased his movements and was laying there, still as a stone.

"'Skarmory is unable to battle!' the referee called excitedly. 'Falkner, Doduo, and Pidgeotto are the winners of this match!'

"And just like that, I was officially the Gym Leader of Violet City." Falkner took a deep breath as his story concluded.

"…Wow," I breathed after a moment of silence. "I never knew you were this good of a storyteller."

 _Thunder says she thinks you're a good storyteller,_ Bolt translated.

"Really?" Falkner asked. He smiled. "Thanks, but… that very night, Katrina disappeared, and I have no idea of what happened after that. She's been gone and almost forgotten for three years."

 _Actually,_ Bolt thought, _I can tell both of you what exactly she's been up to. I think this is important information, both for you and for Thunder._

"Go on," Falkner said, "because my sister left without explaining to me what natures were."

"Yeah," I added. "I have so many unanswered questions about her, and you're the only one who knows the answers."

Bolt nodded, and Falkner and I listened intently as she began her story.

 _To be continued…_


	18. Chapter 17

_Truthfully, Katrina had planned her escape a long time before that final battle,_ Bolt began. _It was pretty much her backup plan, in case she lost the battle._

"Which means, through the years she's been secretly planning her running away without even giving me a hint about anything?" Falkner asked, shocked.

 _That's right,_ Bolt answered gravely. _Katrina may be cold-hearted, but she is definitely quite intelligent. She knew that you must not know of her plans. That's why she left without warning, so that nobody would have a clue as to where to look for her._

"That… sure was smart of her, I admit," Falkner sighed, shaking his head. "We had no idea of where she had gone, and none of the Officer Jennies could track her down." He shook his head. "How did she evade them, though?"

 _Using the secret blimp she found in the forest,_ Bolt answered. _She came upon the blimp the night of her escape. It used to belong to the Police, but they abandoned it because it couldn't even catch up to a certain Meowth-shaped hot air balloon. But you know how stupid the Police Force can sometimes be – first of all, the blimp actually had a high-speed setting that they didn't know how to use. And second of all, they had left the door unlocked, so Katrina could easily climb into the blimp and claim it as her own._

Because I did not have the Soul Gem, I knew that speaking would be useless. Therefore, I had listened to the story with my full attention, taking mental notes along the way.

"So let me get this straight," Falkner said. "All this time, my sister has been flying high above the region in a blimp she stole from the police?"

 _That is correct,_ Bolt thought. _However, Katrina has been doing a lot more than just evading the police. She continued to observe the "Natures" of various wild Pokemon. She also trained her Skarmory and Golbat to be quite powerful, teaching them new moves such as Brave Bird._

"Brave Bird?" Falkner asked. "I've never heard of that move before."

 _It's… something Katrina… invented, I guess,_ Bolt thought, shrugging. _Well, eventually, she also invented the first of her three special gadgets – the Nature Checker._

My whole body grew tense upon hearing those words. _Nature Checker,_ I thought, frowning. _If it weren't for that crazy thing, I would have been able to search for Ash in peace._

"Nature Checker?" Falkner echoed. "What is that?"

 _Katrina created it by re-programming an ordinary Pokedex,_ Bolt answered. _She manipulated it so that when pointed at a Pokemon, it would provide her with the Pokemon's personality, or nature._

"But how is that possible?" Falkner asked. "Katrina was only fifteen when she ran away, and I don't think a fifteen-year-old would be able to do a complicated job such as re-programming a Pokedex."

 _Well, first of all, Katrina was quite intelligent for someone her age,_ Bolt explained. _Second of all, she perfected the Nature Checker not overnight, but over the course of almost three years._

"Ah, that makes much more sense," Falkner said, nodding. "What else has she been doing while she was gone?"

 _A lot of things,_ Bolt answered. _Firstly, Katrina concluded her research on natures, determining that there were twenty-five of them. Secondly, she continued to train her Pokemon, also eventually obtaining a Gyarados and a Charizard. And thirdly, she developed two other gadgets – the electric glove and the electric cage-balls._

I tensed again upon hearing those words, and I shuddered as I recalled the helpless paralysis caused by the evil blue electricity sprouting from Katrina's left index finger, and the painful current that flowed through me whenever I tried to break out of her cold metal cages.

"How did Katrina make them?" Falkner asked.

 _Well,_ Bolt answered, _she made me use Thunderbolt on an ordinary-looking glove – then she modified it so that it could shoot paralyzing electricity out of its index finger. That's how she developed the electric glove._

 _The electric cage-balls were stolen from a duo of Pokemon thieves – but back then, the cage-balls were not charged with electricity. Once again, Katrina used my Thunderbolt to infuse the cage-balls with paralyzing electricity._

"And I suppose she developed these gadgets for one purpose – to catch 'good-natured' Pokemon," Falkner said. "I'm correct, right?"

 _Right,_ Bolt thought gravely, nodding. _Katrina's heart truly turned black – although she had a Dream Team of six Flying-types, she never passed by any opportunity to catch a powerful, good-natured Pokemon, even ones that already belonged to other trainers. She even tried to steal Whitney's Miltank once, almost persuading Whitney to give Miltank's Pokeball to her._

"My sister had the nerve to steal a gym leader's Pokemon?" Falkner asked, horrified.

 _That is correct._

Falkner did not respond, and I was quite surprised to see a hurt, heartbroken look on the gym leader's face. His shoulders were slumped and his head was down, looking like he was on the verge of tears. Expecting him to break at any moment, I took a deep breath and prepared to provide any comfort I could give him. However, when Falkner finally spoke, he took a deep breath and managed to sit straight up, albeit with great difficulty.

"I… I… I don't get why my very own sister would become such a horrible person," he said softly, his voice shaking and uncharacteristically high-pitched. "I remember when I was five and Katrina was ten, we were great friends. We used to pretend that we were fearless explorers of the Land of Aaa…" Falkner shook his head and sighed. "How did she change so much? Sure, Katrina never felt as close to Pokemon as I did, but at least she had a fun personality… how did she let it disappear?"

Bolt took a deep breath. _Jealousy,_ she answered slowly. _Katrina let her poisonous jealousy for you take over her heart, until all she cared about was becoming stronger than you._ Bolt paused. _But it's not your fault that Katrina became the person she is. She just didn't realize the reason why you always received more praise than her._

Falkner nodded. "I just wish that I could have stopped her from changing," he sighed. "But now, my sister has become so cruel and powerful that it's too late…"

My impulses kicked in before I realized that Falkner couldn't understand my words. "No, it's not too late!" I exclaimed. "It's never too late to be a hero and stand up for what's right!"

 _Thunder's right,_ Bolt thought, translating. _She said that it's never too late to stand up against evil and fight for what's right – which is true, very true. In fact, you will soon have an opportunity to show your sister that believing in your Pokemon will always win._

Falkner and I both tensed. "What do you mean?" Falkner asked.

Bolt took a deep breath. _Katrina has a plan,_ she thought, _and that plan is to perfect her Pokemon team before taking on the Pokemon League challenge. With her powerful, good-natured Pokemon, she's going to battle eight gym leaders, collect eight badges, and maybe win the Pokemon League Tournament._ She paused, and when I heard her voice again, it was a quiet, serious one. _For her final badge,_ Bolt thought, _Katrina is going to battle you, Falkner._

"What?" Falkner exclaimed, shocked. "But people usually battle me for their first badge… and why does my sister want to battle me so badly?" His voice grew softer. "It's to get revenge, right?"

 _That's more or less it,_ Bolt thought. _You proved to be stronger than her three years ago, and Katrina couldn't stand the thought of being weaker than her younger brother. Winning against you would prove to her that she and her strategies are superior. And it would also mean payback for the three years of your fame and her obscurity._

"So my sister will eventually come here and battle me for her final showdown before the Pokemon League," Falkner said softly, closing his eyes. "If I win, I will show her the true meaning of Pokemon battling, and maybe she will treat her Pokemon like friends. But if I lose…" Falkner sighed. "I'm not sure if I can win this battle. To tell you the truth, I'm really nervous, because I'm honestly not sure exactly how powerful my sister's Pokemon are."

 _Don't worry, Falkner,_ Bolt thought. _You have plenty of time to prepare for your battle against Katrina – she's two good-natured Pokemon away from a perfect team, and it will take her at least a month for her to obtain seven badges, even with that blimp of hers. And by that time, Lightning, your Pidgeot, would definitely have come back._

Falkner nodded. "We're all going to have to train extra hard," he said determinedly, clenching his hand into a fist. "Katrina can't get away with her deeds, and it's up to us to show her what's right." He turned to Bolt. "Bolt, you'll help me, right?"

 _Right,_ Bolt thought, nodding. _I'll help you give it all you've got, Falkner. After all, it takes a lot of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends._

"Thanks," Falkner said, smiling. He turned to me. "How about you, Thunder? Oh wait, you need that… necklace thing." He turned back to Bolt. "Bolt, would you mind if I gave Thunder's necklace back to her?"

 _Not at all,_ Bolt thought as Falkner removed her Soul Gem necklace and hung it around my neck. I smiled, for the beautiful pink jewel felt comfortably warm against my chest.

Falkner turned to me again. "Thunder," he said softly, "will you help me in my battle against Katrina? I understand that you're in the middle of your search for Ash, but… I'm not sure exactly how strong my sister will be, so I'd appreciate all the help I can get. Don't think I'm forcing you to help me, Thunder. If you want to keep on looking for your trainer, by all means continue your search. It's your choice."

I closed my eyes and sighed. Yes, my quest for Ash _was_ important – he broke the promise he made to me, and I didn't want to get distracted from my goal of finding him. But at the same time, I knew that I couldn't leave Falkner behind. He needed my help desperately, and leaving Violet City would also mean perhaps never seeing Lightning again. I shuddered at the thought.

 _I'm staying, Falkner,_ I thought determinedly. _You need my help more than I need to find Ash. And – and I need Lightning… it's going to be really, really hard to continue my quest without him._

Falkner nodded and stroked my plumes comfortingly. "Thank you," he said softly. "Thunder, thank you so much for your decision to stay here, and I promise I won't let you down."

 _No problem,_ I thought, when I realized that the Soul Gem was suddenly feeling even warmer against my chest. Looking down, I saw that the pink jewel was emanating a soft white light, and I suddenly remembered another important topic I had to discuss with Falkner about.

 _Falkner,_ I thought, _there's something else I need to talk with you about._ I turned to Bolt. _Sorry, Bolt, but this discussion would be less awkward if only Falkner and I participated in it. Not that I don't trust you, Bolt… it's just that the topic is serious and I'd like to keep our discussion private._

"I understand," Bolt said, nodding. She looked around. "Is there anywhere I can go while you two talk?"

 _Bolt's asking if there's anywhere she can go during our discussion,_ I translated.

"Oh, okay," Falkner said, turning to Bolt. "Bolt, I'll take you to the indoor forest. It's pretty big, so it's sure to keep you busy. Come on." With that, he walked towards the elevator at the end of the battlefield, with Bolt trailing at his heels.

As Falkner and Bolt disappeared behind the sliding elevator doors, I gazed up at the cloud-dotted blue morning sky and sighed.

"I'm not sure if I should be doing this," I said out loud, talking to myself. "Janine didn't really seem to want anything to do with Falkner anymore, and… how am I supposed to tell Falkner about Janine without making him angry and uncomfortable?" I shook my head. "Should I leave Falkner and Janine alone, or should I try to get them back together? I'm not sure…"

I sighed again, staring intently at the fluffy white clouds as if they contained the answers to my questions. My mind was still completely blank, however, when I heard Falkner's voice slice through my quiet thoughts.

"Thunder?" Falkner asked softly. "You said that we needed to talk."

I gulped and turned to see that Falkner was sitting next to me, waiting patiently for me to speak. I took a deep breath, hoping that this talk would end well, and began.

 _Falkner,_ I thought, _when I started my journey with Lightning, I merely thought of him as a friend and nothing more. But as our journey progressed, I began to realize that Lightning wanted to be more than just friends with me… he loved me and wanted me to be his mate. I saw the signs, and I slowly began to realize what he felt for me._

Falkner stroked my plumes gently, his fingers feeling soft and gentle as they ran through my feathers. "Did you… did you love Lightning back?" he asked softly.

 _For a long time… no,_ I admitted. _I thought he was brave and handsome, but at the same time, I tried to push away my feelings for him because I thought that we could never be together. I told myself that my home was with Ash and Lightning's home was Violet City, so I thought we could never be together._

Falkner did not respond, and when I saw him frowning and staring intently at the beautiful Soul Gem that was hanging around my neck, I knew that what I said had made him think of Janine. Taking a deep breath, I continued.

 _But I had two helpers,_ I thought. _The first one was Celebi –_

"Celebi?" Falkner interrupted, his voice full of both interest and disbelief. "Isn't that Pokemon the legendary Guardian of the Forest?"

 _Right,_ I answered. _I met Celebi in Ilex Forest, and after it observed the interactions between Lightning and I, it decided to have a talk with me. Celebi told me that it had a fateful adventure with Ash before, and from that adventure it learned something: true friendship can stand the tests of time and space._

"True friendship… can stand the test of space?" Falkner repeated quietly, looking confused.

 _Right,_ I said firmly. Suddenly, a revelation struck me, and I couldn't hold back my words. _Love is a very powerful force, and nothing can break it, not even time and space. Separation destroys weak loves and fuels strong ones, just like how a gentle breeze blows out a candle and ignites a bonfire._

Falkner stared at me in amazement. "That's… so true," he said softly. "I… never knew that you were so philosophical, Thunder."

I shrugged. _I just had a revelation,_ I thought, _but what I said is based upon the lessons I learned from Celebi and another very special individual._

Falkner paused, and for a while I was not sure whether or not he would speak. But then, with a sigh, he said, "It's Janine, right?"

 _Yes… yes, I did meet Janine during my journey,_ I thought, quite taken aback by Falkner's reaction. _But… how did you know?_

"That necklace you're wearing… it used to be Janine's," Falkner explained. "I… gave it to her on her thirteenth birthday…" He paused and stared at me with a serious expression on his face. "Thunder, do you promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?"

 _I promise,_ I thought sincerely, shaking with anticipation. Was Falkner going to tell me what happened with him and Janine?

"Thank you," Falkner sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was even quieter and more serious than before. "Okay, I admit it – I _do_ like Janine a lot. We've been friends since we were four, but as we grew older we both began to want to be more than just friends with each other… Thunder, I think I made the same mistake with Janine as you made with Lightning."

 _Yes,_ I thought. _I know. Janine told me that you told her that you two could never be together because your home was Violet City and her home was Fuchsia City._

"That's right," Falkner sighed. "I still thought that Janine was cute and all – I still do. I tried to explain to her my feelings, and I definitely didn't want to make her feel lonely and rejected… I knew that I had broken her heart, but I thought I couldn't do anything about it."

 _Falkner,_ I thought, _you really need to stop thinking that you can't do anything about a problem._ Realizing that I had sounded a little harsh, I added, _Yes, Janine still does feel bitter about you, but that doesn't mean that it's too late to talk to her. In fact, when she talked to me, she still seemed to have some feelings or you… she tried to hide them from me, but she didn't hide them well._

"Really?" Falkner asked. "I suppose talking to Janine is worth a shot, but it's been a long time since I last saw her… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm scared."

 _I understand,_ I thought, giving him a comforting pat on the back with my wing. _Love can be a very complicated feeling, but if you just be brave and follow your heart, everything will turn out fine._

"Everything will turn out just fine," Falkner repeated, looking more confident now. He stood up and smiled. "I'm going to be brave and talk to Janine." But then he frowned. "But what about Katrina? Fuchsia City is very far away, and I'm not sure if I can get there and back within a month…"

 _You can always use Starlight's Teleport,_ I thought. _With Teleport, you can get there and back in a matter of seconds._

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Falkner asked, smiling. "Thunder, you sure are smart for a Pokemon."

 _Eh, it just comes from being a Flock Leader,_ I guess, I thought casually. _So, Falkner, when are you leaving for Fuchsia City?_

"Tonight," Falkner said determinedly. "I'm going to need as much time as possible to prepare for a battle as serious as my showdown against my sister."

* * *

The soothing white moonlight washed over the artificial but realistic trees and shrubs of the indoor forest, flooding the room with a comforting glow. I perched on the highest branch of the tallest tree, gazing down at the leafy treetops below as Bolt curled up comfortably at the bottom of the tree, sleeping soundly.

It was night, and a blanket of silence engulfed Violet Gym. Falkner was gone – he had left for Janine shortly after dinner. Thought everything was peaceful, I couldn't sleep at all, for someone was missing: Lightning.

"I hope he's all right," I said quietly to myself. Although Falkner had used his tracking device to show me that Lightning was safely on the way back to Violet City, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry. Would Lightning find enough lakes to fish out of? And what if he encountered another ferocious Gyarados or, worse yet, Nature Hunter K?

 _And what has become of my quest for Ash?_ I asked myself. _I didn't plan on helping Falkner when I began my journey…_

"Ooooooooooooo Ohhhhhhhhhh Aaaaaaaa…."

My feathers prickled with excitement and I gasped in sheer delight and wonder as I raised my head upon hearing that beautiful-sounding call. That sound I had heard – it could only mean one thing: Articuno, the majestic, shimmering legendary bird I had seen at the beginning of my journey, had returned.

There it was: flying slowly and gracefully towards the full moon, its beautiful blue feathers shining like diamonds and crystals, its graceful wings flapping every once in a while, and its long, flowing tail trailing behind its body. I watched with enchanted awe and amazement as the legendary bird flew on, leaving a trail of glittering sparkles in its wake.

"Please, Articuno, grant me this one with I have," I whispered as it grew smaller and smaller in the distance. "I wish that I will eventually find the trainer with whom I really belong."

 _To be continued…_


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: This chapter is kind of embarrassing, lol. I wrote this when I was younger and had an enormous crush on Falkner. Now I realize how illogical the whole thing is, so I'll definitely be tweaking this a lot when the time comes.**

* * *

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~_  
 _~~~Lightning~~~_

I dove downwards, my wings folded, my eyes narrowed, and the wind rushing through my feathers. My target: the large deciduous tree below, which had many overhang branches from which many Pineco hung, drowsing lazily in the shade and completely oblivious to the outside world.

Or so I thought. The last two times I had tried to hunt for Pineco, the small Bug-type Pokemon had all suddenly and violently exploded, generating a thundering noise and a huge dust cloud that had obstructed my vision and caused me to cough. When I could see again, the tree had been completely bare, leaves had been scattered on the ground, and the Pineco had been nowhere to be seen.

 _I'm not letting them get away this time,_ I thought determinedly as I spotted a single Pineco hanging from one of the top branches, separated from the rest of the group. I smiled, deciding to go after this one, and bunched my muscles, getting ready to deliver a swift Quick Attack. Taking a deep breath, I darted speedily forward, swiftly plowing the lone Pineco into the air.

My stomach growled. It had been almost a day since I last ate, and I was not going to let this meal get away. The Pineco was plummeting towards the ground, still clueless as to what had hit it, when I dove down, extended my talons, and gripped the armored Pokemon tightly. I flew away silently, my wingbeats not making a sound in the still afternoon air. The Pineco on the tree continued to snooze obliviously as my catch struggled helplessly for a while and went limp in my claws.

I smiled, my heartbeat and breathing slowing down, but my initial rush of satisfaction gave way to hopelessness. Sighing, I landed on a large tree branch nearby and stared at the lifeless Pineco in my claws. I had food, and soon I would no longer have an empty stomach, but something was missing.

Thunder.

I ate my catch slowly and listlessly, for all of a sudden I had no longer felt hungry. Now I just felt depressed and lonely, with not a soul in the world to talk to. And worse yet, I knew that Thunder, the smart and spirited Pidgeot who was the love of my life, was on her way back to Viridian Forest and would never have anything to do with me again.

 _She had so much determination to find Ash,_ I thought sadly, _so why did she give up?_ I sighed again. _Maybe I was wrong when I thought Thunder loved me and would come back to the Burnt Tower in the morning. Maybe she just wanted to leave me forever and go home._ _My heart felt like it was ripped into a million pieces. She's right, thought… we have different paths, different homes, and different destinies. We can't be together._

Quivering slightly, I finished my meal and slowly took off. Gliding high above the dusty country road, I spotted the jagged skyline of Goldenrod City in the distance, but I felt a lack of motivation weighing me down. Traveling like this was pretty pointless now – Thunder was gone, and there was nowhere left for me to go. As I flew on slowly, a warm zephyr brushed against my feathers, carrying with it petals of beautiful purple flowers – violets.

 _Violets… that's it!_ I thought, brightening. _Thunder may be gone forever, but I still have something – my home. I've got to get back to Violet Gym. Falkner and all my friends are still there, and with them, I'll fight many exciting gym battles._ I held my head higher and flapped my wings more quickly, gradually approaching top speed. _No. I can't lose hope now. I've got my whole life ahead of me._

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View~~~~_  
 _~~~End~~~_

"You've got to be faster, Midnight," I suggested, hovering effortlessly in the air. "Your Peck attack's form and power look good, but if you don't strike quickly, your foe will easily dodge your attack or strike back."

Midnight the Hoothoot grunted with effort, struggling to remain suspended in the air. The battle training had definitely taken its toll on him – he was breathing heavily, and his tiny wings were barely sufficient to keep him hovering. However, fierce determination gleamed in his eyes, and I knew that he was willing to train hard to help his trainer win the final battle. For someone so young and inexperienced, Midnight had definitely impressed me with his skills.

"I'm not sure _how_ I'm supposed to be faster, though," Midnight groaned, landing lightly on the sandy ground to take a break. "I'm pretty small compared to other Pokemon."

"You just need to imagine that you're bigger and stronger," I said gently. "Put all of your heart and effort into your attack, and everything will be all right."

Mordecai the Dodrio, who had been watching the training with interest, spoke up.

"Getting a running start before attacking always helps," said Mohr, the encouraging and optimistic head. "Then you can jump up and dive down, attacking the enemy from above."

"That doesn't always work," snapped Dee, the angry and argumentative head. "Remember that stupid Pikachu?"

"That Pikachu was way too powerful for me," sighed Kai, the depressed and pessimistic head. "He had so much voltage and electricity for such a little Pokemon."

"Still," Mohr said, ignoring Dee and Kai, "getting a running start and leaping into the air before you attack will really help you a lot."

"Mohr's right." Bolt, who had also been quietly watching the training, spoke up. "Head-on attacks are always easy to dodge. Usually, neither Pokemon nor trainer expects an attack from above, so use your Flying-type as an advantage in battle."

I nodded at Midnight. "Are you ready to try again?" I asked.

"Definitely," Midnight said determinedly, taking a running start and leaping into the air. He flapped his tiny wings, flying higher and higher, until suddenly and without warning he dove down towards me at an astonishing speed.

I narrowed my eyes and zipped to the right, dodging the attack. However, Midnight did not give up. His beak glowed and grew larger, and he speedily changed direction, plowing into my side.

I grunted upon impact, falling backwards, but I thought quickly, flapped my wings rapidly a few times, and managed to stay in the air. Knowing that it was my turn to make a move, I darted towards Midnight in a speedy Quick Attack. Before I could strike, however, the Hoothoot began to stare at me intently, rings of psychic energy emanating from his large red eyes. Despite myself, I felt my wingbeats beginning to slow down and my eyelids getting heavy. Thankfully Midnight, realizing that this was just a practice battle, stopped his attack and landed on the ground before I could sink into sleep.

"That sure was a creative strategy, Midnight," I yawned, shaking my head to fight off the lingering effects of the Hypnosis attack. "Striking from above was one thing, but stopping me in my tracks with Hypnosis was another." I landed next to Midnight and gave him a friendly pat on the back with my wing. "Great job."

"Thanks, Thunder," Midnight chirped. "So, what's next in our training?"

I turned to address everyone at the scene. "Actually, we've all trained pretty hard this morning," I declared. "We've had a lot of practice battles in which we all sharpened our skills. Why don't we take a break for lunch and continue our training sometime in the afternoon?"

"But we need to train more," Dee grumbled.

"But Dee, I'm just worn out, so please, no more training until after lunch," Kai sighed.

"I agree, Kai, we all need to rest," Mohr said, "But Dee, training is important too. Let's all eat lunch and recharge a bit. That way, we can put a lot more energy into our training."

"That's right," Midnight yawned, flying towards the elevator. "Well, I'm beat, so I'm off to the indoor forest. You coming, guys?"

"I'm hungry, so sure," Bolt said, following Midnight with Mordecai at her heels. "How about you, Thunder?"

I nodded slowly. "I can use a rest," I declared. My voice lowered. "But… I want to make a stop in the radar room first. I… just want to make sure Lightning's all right."

"I understand," Bolt said gently as Midnight pressed the button and the elevator door opened.

"Thank you, Bolt," I said quietly as I followed everyone into the elevator.

~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~  
~~~Janine~~~

"We're almost home, Crobat," I said softly, gently petting the fur of the purple, four-winged Pokemon. "You've done really well. Do you want to take a rest?"

"Cro," Crobat growled softly, flapping its wings more quickly and ascending in altitude. Soon, its rapidly moving wings were nothing but a blur, and the tearing wind buffeted my face violently, threatening to whisk me off my Pokemon and send me plummeting to the jagged, rocky ground hundreds of feet below. Realizing that Crobat wasn't tired at all, I ducked down and hung on tightly. An ordinary person would have found the task of staying on the fast-flying Pokemon difficult, but years of training had toughened me up. My initial fear of falling fading away like mist, I laughed with glee as I enjoyed the sensation of speed, Crobat zipping through the quiet night sky.

Darkness wrapped around me like a blanket, broken here and there by the twinkle of a bright star. Although the moon hid behind the gray, wispy clouds and I couldn't see a thing ahead or below, I wasn't afraid at all. I knew that Crobat was a naturally nocturnal Pokemon that was acquainted with the night, so I felt confident that it would safely help me get home.

About ten minutes later of flying at top speed, the clouds cleared up and the waxing moon cast its white light all the way to the ground below. Peering downwards, I smiled as I spotted glowing city lights.

"It's time to slow down, Crobat," I said happily. "We're back in Kanto, which means we'll arrive in Fuchsia City pretty soon."

"Cro, Crobat," Crobat murmured, nodding as its wings slowed down until they were no longer a blur. As the wind that whizzed past my head dwindled down as well, I extended my neck to look around a bit. When I spotted the long, gray strip of Cycling Road below, I prepared to command Crobat to turn right, but the bat-like Pokemon made the correct move before I could speak.

"Great job," I said softly, quite impressed at how Crobat naturally knew the way home. With my Pokemon flying at a moderately fast pace, we returned to Fuchsia City in just a few minutes.

I smiled as I spotted the characteristic red pathways of the metropolis, along with the small ponds, mysterious-looking gym, and large, impressive Safari Zone gate. Despite the darkness of the night, I was certain that I had finally arrived home. As Crobat landed on the roof of the Fuchsia Gym, I dismounted and heaved a sigh of relief. Our long journey from Ecruteak City was over.

"Thank you so much, Crobat," I said earnestly, patting the Pokemon on its back. I pulled out its Pokeball. "You've done well, so take a nice, long rest."

I pressed the center button of the capsule, and Crobat turned into transparent red energy as it disappeared into the ball. Quite exhausted from the long journey home, I sat down onto the roof, positioning myself so that I had a grand view of the whole city.

A pang of loneliness and nostalgia struck me as I scanned the familiar rooftops, the night breeze lightly grazing my cheeks. I sighed. Falkner and I used to climb up here and sit in the very spot, talking and laughing while enjoying the beautiful view.

 _That was back when we were friends,_ I thought sadly, tears welling up in my eyes. I quickly wiped them with my forearm. _He was so nice. And cute, too… I don't know why he didn't feel for me the way I felt for him._ I shuddered. _But then again, he had a point. No matter how much Falkner means to me, we can't be together… right?_

"Janine." A familiar voice cut through my thoughts, and I tensed, my heart racing. "True friendship can withstand the tests of time and space. At first I didn't realize that – but then I met Thunder, a very smart and brilliant Pidgeot. Then I realized that what I said to you wasn't really right."

My heart shot into my throat. I looked around slowly, and I drew back in surprise when I saw Falkner sitting merely a few feet away from me, his legs dangling over the edge of the roof. I opened my mouth to respond, but no words came out. Despite myself, I couldn't help but notice how brilliant his blue hair looked under the silver moonlight. Feeling my face turn hot, I looked down in embarrassment.

"L-listen, Janine," Falkner said softly, his voice shaking. He moved tentatively closer to me, and I noticed that he was trying hard not to look down – under the cover of his hair he was blushing as well. "Firstly… don't freak out, because my Natu teleported me here from Violet City. I… actually think you're pretty awesome and cute and… um… yeah." He took a deep breath. "Janine, I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings. Back when you told me how you felt for me, I really felt the same way for you. It's just that I didn't think we could be together, but now I know that's not the case."

My heart felt like it was flying, but I tried not to show it too much – not just yet. "So… you came all the way here from Violet City… do you really mean to say you're sorry?"

"Yes," Falkner said with conviction. "I really am sorry for what I said. I now realize how wrong I was… will you forgive me, Janine?"

For a while I just stared at him, my heart thumping in my chest. Sure, he had hurt my feelings, but that was because he didn't realize how limitless friendship and love was. How could I not forgive him? Falkner was fun, cute, and a good friend – well, maybe more than just a good friend. My emotions suddenly taking over, I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly, resting my head on his shoulder.

"I'll take that as a yes," Falkner said softly, hugging me back. I closed my eyes, my heart racing, my head spinning. I felt like I was not sitting on the roof of the Fuchsia Gym, but soaring through the night sky with silver wings and touching every glimmering star. This feeling of sheer pleasure was unknown to me until now – but although I felt confused, I also felt gleeful and elated. I knew what this meant – this is what it felt like to be in love.

For a long time we just sat there, embracing each other and gazing at the city and the starry night sky. Finally, deciding to break the silence, I spoke up.

"So, Falky," I said softly, "How's everything at Violet City?"

When I saw that Falkner bore a worried expression on his face, I ran my fingers comfortingly through his soft blue hair. "Is… something wrong?" I asked understandingly.

Falkner took a shaky breath. "It's my sister, Katrina," he said worriedly.

"Katrina?" I asked. "Didn't we play Adventure Time with her, back when we were kids?" My voice lowered. "And… she disappeared when you were ten, right?"

Falkner nodded solemnly. "That's right," he said quietly. "But thanks to Thunder the Pidgeot and Bolt the Jolteon, I now know what she's been doing all the years she's been gone – and what she plans on doing once she gets seven gym badges."

I tensed a little. "What's that?" I asked, concerned.

"Well," Falkner said, "my sister never really saw her Pokemon as her friends – but I did, so I always received more praise and attention from our parents. Jealous, Katrina tried to prove that her philosophy was right by becoming powerful in another way. That way was only using Pokemon with certain 'Natures' – personalities that would make them more powerful. She trained her Pokemon hard, and her 'good-natured' Skarmory and Golbat proved to be formidable foes in the battle to determine who would become Violet City's new gym leader. But Katrina lost, so she ran away to train hard until she could prove to be more powerful than me."

"So _that's_ why she disappeared," I said softly. I stared at Falkner intently. "Falkner, if Katrina ever comes back to Violet City to get her revenge, I'll be there to help you. I'll do what it takes to help you win the final battle against your sister."

"Do you really mean it?" Falkner asked, touched.

I nodded sincerely. "I'll show you some battle strategies and help you train your Pokemon," I said earnestly. "I want to help you prove to Katrina that having faith in your Pokemon will always succeed."

"Janine… thank you," Falkner said quietly after a brief pause. "Thank you so much for forgiving me and helping me fight this final battle." He looked around. "But what about the Fuchsia Gym? Don't you have to look after this place?"

"It's all right," I said, shrugging. "I can always just post a notice on the front door and tell my dad about what I'm doing."

"Good," Falkner said, sighing with relief. "Oh, I almost forgot. Janine… can you close your eyes and cup your hands together? I… brought something for you."

"All right," I said, my heartbeat quickening in excitement. I followed his instructions and waited in anticipation until he placed a hard, warm object in my cupped hands.

"Take a look," Falkner said softly.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and gasped in surprise and delight when I spotted the beautiful item I held. It was a brilliant, shimmering jewel, attached to a string so that it could be worn as a necklace. When I noticed that it was pink, heart-shaped, and emanating a soft, warm white light, I knew it could only be one thing: the Soul Gem necklace Falkner had given me on my thirteenth birthday.

"It's… beautiful," I whispered in awe, feeling the smooth surface of the jewel. I put on the necklace, and the Soul Gem felt warm against my chest. But then I realized something. "Falkner… you didn't take the necklace from Thunder, did you? She was the one who rightfully found it, and she needs to necklace if she wants to communicate with humans."

"Don't worry, Janine," Falkner said softly. "Right before I left for Fuchsia City, something really strange happened: the necklace flew off Thunder's neck, floated in midair, and duplicated itself. One of the necklaces landed back onto Thunder's neck, and the other one landed in my hands. Thunder suggested that I give the necklace to you. I swear I didn't take the necklace from her – if you visited Violet Gym right now, you'll see Thunder still wearing the Soul Gem necklace and able to communicate with humans."

"Okay, that's good," I said, a little relieved. "I should have known that you would never do anything that would make a bird Pokemon angry." I smiled. "Falkner… thanks for everything… you know, for being my best friend – or maybe more than my best friend."

"You're welcome," Falkner said softly, enveloping me in his arms. I hugged him back, gazing dreamily at his handsome features under the silver moonlight. And then, to my greatest delight and surprise, he did something he had never done before: he closed his eyes, leaned forward, and kissed me lightly on the lips.

I closed my eyes as well, my heart beating faster than it had ever beaten before. I felt like I was flying.

 _To be continued…_

~~~~Alternative Point of View~~~~  
~~~End~~~


	20. Chapter 19

I woke wearily to a cheerful pat on my back and a not-so-cheerful sunbeam in my face. Blinking my eyes a few times, I turned away irritably as blinding morning light met my eyes. To my surprise, I found none other than Janine, my friend from Ecruteak City, sitting next to me on the tree branch. She wore a broad grin on her face.

 _Janine?_ I thought, confused. _How did you get here?_

"Great, you're awake, Thunder," Janine said happily. She petted me gently. "You see, I've agreed to help Falky train his Pokemon for the battle against Katrina." She smiled. "But considering how it's late morning and everyone's still asleep, I'm assuming that you've all worked hard and trained a lot yesterday."

It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but when I did, I smiled. _I'm glad you gave Falkner a second chance,_ I thought earnestly. I looked around. _But where is he?_

As if to answer my question, a loud thud echoed throughout the indoor forest. Looking down, I couldn't help but giggle a bit upon seeing Falkner picking himself off the ground, hastily brushing dust and dirt off his clothes. Below me, my friends stirred – the loud noise had apparently shocked Bolt and Mordecai out of their peaceful slumber. Midnight had heard the noise too – he was no perched on a low-hanging branch, looking on with a puzzled expression on his face.

Janine shimmied nimbly down the tree trunk, jumped, and landed gracefully next to Falkner, who was ruefully rubbing his bruised knee. I followed Janine and landed next to Falkner as well as he slowly stood up and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, Janine – let's just say that I haven't done much… ninja training lately," Falkner said in a carefree manner. He looked around. "Everyone's here, right?"

 _Right,_ I answered, giggling. _You kind of woke everyone up when you fell out of that tree._

"Well, at least that saved me the trouble of having to go around and wake everyone up," Falkner said, laughing. He took Janine's hand and addressed all the Pokemon around. "All right, everyone. As you can see, Janine's back. She's visiting Violet Gym to help all of us train for the final battle against Katrina."

"That's right," Janine said, smiling. She gestured towards Bolt. "I haven't seen that Jolteon before. Is she yours?"

Falkner shook his head. "Bolt used to belong to my sister," he explained, "but she helped Thunder escape from Katrina's blimp. Now she's here to help use train for… you know what."

"I never knew your sister gave her Pokemon nicknames," Janine stated.

"She didn't," Falkner answered. "Here's the strange thing: apparently, all Pokemon have names they're born with, even though we humans don't realize it. I learned that from Thunder – she told me that my Pidgeot was a male named Lightning. Truthfully, I didn't know that before."

 _The thing is,_ I thought, _deep down we Pokemon prefer to be referred by our names and genders, but we've never had a way to really communicate with humans. Therefore, most of us got used to being called "it", or our species name._

"Interesting," Janine said softly. "Well, I guess we all learn something new every day."

"So I'm assuming all my other Pokemon – Hoothoot, Dodrio, and Natu – have names too?" Falkner asked.

 _That's right,_ I answered. _Hoothoot is a male named Midnight, Dodrio is a male named Mordecai, and Natu is a female named Starlight._

"I honestly did not know that," Falkner murmured as he pulled out Starlight's Dream Ball and tossed it into the air. As Starlight materialized in a flash of purple light, Falkner turned to Janine. "So, you want to explain to everyone what's going on?"

"Of course," Janine answered, turning to address all the Pokemon at the scene. "So, I'm pretty sure most of you already know me, but I'm Janine, the gym leader of Fuchsia City. I learned that Falkner was in need of help – his older sister, Katrina, is going to challenge him to a battle pretty soon to prove that her loveless training methods work. So I've decided to help all of you sharpen your battle skills and train for the battle against Katrina."

"Awesome," Midnight chirped.

"Sounds good to me," Mohr, Dee, and Kai said in unison.

 _Everyone's pretty excited about the training,_ I translated. _Shouldn't we eat first, though? None of us has had breakfast yet._

"That's right," Falkner answered. "I'll go get some food so that everyone can eat. After that, let's all go to the rooftop stadium and have some practice battles to sharpen our skills."

* * *

"The practice Pokemon battle between Falkner, the Violet City gym leader, and Janine, the Fuchsia City gym leader, is about to begin," boomed the referee. "Each trainer is allowed to use up to four Pokemon, and the match is over when all four of one trainer's Pokemon have fainted. Substitutions are allowed on both sides. Ready, begin!"

I sat at the side of the battlefield with Starlight, Midnight, Mordecai, and Bolt. Prior to the practice match, Falkner's Pokemon had decided to stay out of their Pokeballs in order to watch and learn from the battle. Also, it was agreed that Janine would have temporary control over Bolt, so that everyone could learn strategies for battling against tough foes.

"I'm going to start with Natu – I mean, Starlight," Falkner declared. Upon hearing her name, Starlight hopped forward and stood in front of her trainer.

"That makes sense, staring out with your newest Pokemon," Janine said, nodding. "All right, I'm going to help her become stronger." She pulled out a Pokeball. "Venomoth, go!"

Janine hurled the red-and-white capsule towards the battlefield, and her Venomoth appeared in a flash of white light.

"Venomoth?" Falkner asked, confused.

"You see, since Katrina's going to use Flying-type Pokemon, I figured Starlight would need some practice – considering that she can't fly yet."

"That makes sense," Falkner smirked, "but you haven't seen our strategy yet. Starlight, use Psychic to fly!"

"Yay!" Starlight chirped as her eyes began to glow blue and her whole body lifted into the air.

"Impressive," I murmured, "and very creative. How did Falkner come up with that?"

"One of his challengers a while ago," Mohr answered.

"She had a Natu," Dee added.

"Falkner pretty much 'borrowed' her strategy," Kai said.

"Pretty cool," I said, nodding. Meanwhile, Janine was calling out her attack.

"Venomoth, Signal Beam!" Janine exclaimed.

Venomoth fired off a jagged, multicolored beam of light from his mouth. Just as it was about to strike Starlight, however, Falkner called out Starlight's move.

"Quick, Starlight!" he commanded. "Use Light Screen!"

Starlight's eyes glowed, and a protective shield immediately formed around her. The Signal Beam struck the Light Screen and disappeared, barely damaging her.

"Smart thinking," Janine commented, "but I'll do something different this time. Venomoth, Poison Powder!"

Venomoth beat his wings quickly, sending a cloud of purple dust flying towards Starlight. Falkner smiled.

"Deflect it with Psychic attack!" he commanded.

Immediately, Starlight diverted her Psychic energy, sending the poisonous dust flying to Venomoth. Because the Psychic attack was being used for something else, Starlight's body stopped glowing with a blue light and she landed on the ground. The Poison Powder collided with Venomoth and disappeared.

Janine did not seem fazed by this – in fact, not it was her turn to smile.

"Venomoth, dive and use Bug Bite," she called. "Quickly, while Starlight's still on the ground!"

With very impressive speed, Venomoth dove downwards towards Starlight, fangs bared and glowing white. Before Falkner could call out a command, Venomoth chomped down onto Starlight's head.

"My head hurts!" Starlight whined, running around in circled and trying in vain to shake Venomoth off. "Ow, ow, ow!"

 _Falkner!_ I thought suddenly upon realizing that Starlight's whole body was glowing with a bright blue light. _Starlight's like Misty's Psyduck!_ "

"What?" Falkner asked.

 _Ask Starlight to use Confusion!_ I thought triumphantly.

"But – but Natu can't learn Confusion!" Falkner exclaimed.

As soon as Falkner said that, however, Starlight's eyes glowed with a very harsh blue light. Venomoth began to glow as well, and I watched in amazement as Starlight lifted him into the air. Then, a bright beam of pure Psychic energy shot upwards from Starlight's eyes with great force, striking Venomoth directly. When the attack stopped, Venomoth fell to the ground, completely still. To my surprise, however, Starlight toppled over and fainted as well.

"Venomoth and Natu are both unable to battle," the referee called. "This match is a tie!"

Falkner stared, confused. "But why did Starlight faint?" he asked.

 _First of all,_ I answered, _that Confusion attack probably used up a lot of her strength. Secondly, she had already taken a lot of damage from that Bug Bite._

"That makes sense," Falkner said as he and Janine recalled their fainted Pokemon. "I'm so glad I discovered that Starlight could use Confusion though – ordinary Natu are unable to learn that move. I'm pretty sure I can use Starlight's powerful Confusion attacks to surprise challengers."

"Your strategies are looking very good," Janine commented, "but be careful about how Starlight uses Psychic. Remember, she can use it to either fly or attack – but not both."

"Good point," Falkner said, nodding. He turned to the audience. "All right, Midnight, you're up!"

"Finally!" Midnight chirped happily, hopping forward and standing proudly on one foot in front of his trainer.

"Okay, then," Janine declared, pulling out a second Pokeball and throwing it into the air. "Grimer, I choose you!"

As the Poison-type Pokemon – which looked like a pile of purple sludge – materialized, Falkner called out Midnight's first move.

"Midnight, Peck attack!" Falkner exclaimed.

With surprising speed, Midnight charged forward and leaped into the air. As he effortlessly flew higher and higher, I smiled – all that training had paid off. Then, without warning, Midnight's beak glowed white and grew larger as he dove sharply down towards Grimer. Janine gasped and commanded Grimer to use Sludge Bomb, but Midnight was ready. Even without Falkner's orders, he dodged the oncoming attack and plowed into Grimer's side.

Janine's Grimer grunted upon impact, but she stood her ground and didn't even slide backwards. Meanwhile, Janine called out the next move.

"Grimer," Janine exclaimed, "Use Harden!"

"Midnight, keep on using Peck!" Falkner ordered.

While Midnight darted forward and bombarded Grimer with quick, vicious pecks, Grimer closed her eyes as her body glowed with a soft white light, becoming stiffer and tougher.

"Grimer's barely taking any damage," I observed as Midnight continued landing his attacks. "I'm not sure how long Midnight can keep up like this."

"But if Grimer doesn't attack back soon, she'll only get weaker and weaker," Bolt murmured. "I wonder what's Janine's plan here."

After several turns of Midnight attacking with Peck and Grimer defending with Harden passed, Midnight looked a little worn out. He stood on one foot at his side of the battlefield, panting slightly. Grimer, having taken some damage from Midnight's incessant attacks, also seemed to be quite tired. To my surprise, Janine just smiled.

"Time to turn this battle around!" she declared. "Grimer, Toxic attack, go!"

"What?" Falkner exclaimed in surprise. "Quick, Midnight! Use Hypnosis!"

Midnight immediately began to stare intently at Grimer, but to everyone's shock, the rings of energy that emanated from Midnight's eyes narrowly missed their target. When the attack ceased, Grimer still stood there, wide awake. As the hypnotic rings disappeared, Grimer formed a purple ball of energy between her arms and hurled it at Midnight. The attack struck him directly, and when it disappeared, the Hoothoot's entire body glowed with a sickly purple color.

 _You've got to be careful, Falkner,_ I warned. _Midnight's been badly poisoned._

"Right," Falkner said, nodding. He pulled out a Pokeball. "Midnight, return!"

As Midnight turned into transparent red energy and disappeared into the red-and-white capsule, Falkner sighed.

"I'm not sure why Midnight's Hypnosis missed," he murmured, examining the Pokeball in his hand. "Was it because he got tired from delivering all those Peck attacks?"

"Precisely," Janine answered. "The only reason why I didn't command Grimer to attack was to tire Midnight out. It's a valuable strategy I use all the time."

"You know, Janine, you're pretty smart," Falkner commented.

"Thanks," Janine said, blushing. "So, who are you calling to fight Grimer?"

"Mordecai," Falkner answered.

"Yay!" exclaimed Mohr.

"Grr," groaned Dee.

Kai just sighed as the Dodrio walked to Falkner's side of the battlefield. I couldn't help but laugh – Mordecai's three heads always amused me with their contrasting personalities.

"Ready," Falkner declared as soon as Mordecai took his place.

"Okay," Janine said. "Let's end this quickly. Grimer, Gunk Shot!"

"Mordecai, counter with Tri Attack!" Falkner ordered.

As Grimer formed a bright purple orb between her hands, a red, yellow, and white energy sphere materialized in the mouths of Mohr, Dee, and Kai respectively. Without warning, Grimer's purple orb shot forward as a purple-and-white beam of destructive Poison energy. At the same time, Mordecai released the colorful orbs from his three mouths.

It happened so quickly. As the two powerful attacks collided forcefully in midair, a huge, multi-colored explosion ensued. The resulting dust cloud was so large and thick that it covered the whole entire rooftop stadium. I coughed and closed my eyes, blocking out the horrible dust and smoke.

When I could breathe again, I opened my eyes slowly and found out that the explosion had knocked Grimer out. Mordecai, though weakened, still stood resolutely on his side of the battlefield.

"Grimer is unable to battle," the referee declared. "Falkner and Dodrio win!"

Falkner walked over to Mordecai and patted him on the back. "Great job," Falkner complimented. "That Tri Attack looked perfect, and you were definitely very strong because you survived that explosion."

"Grimer, you did great. Now take a good rest," Janine said softly as she returned Grimer to her Pokeball. She pulled out another Pokeball and threw it to the center of the battlefield. "All right, Crobat! You're up!"

As Janine's Crobat materialized in a flash of white light, Falkner called out Mordecai's first move.

"Mordecai, Fury Attack!" he orderd.

"Crobat, fly in circles around Mordecai!" Janine commanded.

Mordecai lunged forward, beaks prepared to jab Crobat. He was fast, but Crobat was faster. I watched, genuinely impressed, as Crobat dramatically increased his speed and zipped around and around Mordecai, closing him in. Pretty soon, Crobat seemed to be nothing but a speedy purple blur. The Dodrio stopped in his tracks. All three of his heads looked around, frightened and confused.

"Don't panic, Mordecai," Falkner said steadily. "Keep calm and use Acupressure."

"Not so fast," Janine said triumphantly. "Crobat, use Fly!"

Almost immediately, Crobat, stopped flying in circles around Mordecai and shot straight up into the air. Thankfully, Mordecai remained calm, despite the fact that his opponent was almost completely out of range. He closed his eyes and glowed with an orange light. The light intensified until Crobat began to dive back down to the battlefield and Falkner gave Mordecai the next command.

"Crobat's attacking!" Falkner exclaimed. "Mordecai, use Drill Peck!"

When Mordecai opened his eyes, all three of his heads pointed directly at Crobat as he lunged into the air. Immediately, Mordecai's whole entire body seemed to turn into a drill with his three beaks as the drill heads. The attack struck Crobat with full force, accuracy, and power – whatever Acupressure had done had worked. Crobat groaned in pain as Mordecai's sharp bills relentlessly pecked his body. To everyone's surprise, when the attack subsided, Crobat, though quite injured, somehow managed to continue his Fly attack. Determined, he plowed forcefully into Mordecai's back.

A fairly large dust cloud resulted from the disturbance, and no one could see the combatants at all. A few seconds later, however, the dust cleared. Everyone gasped.

Mordecai seemed to be struggling. The Fly attack had buried his legs into the earth, and now it seemed impossible to get them out. Mohr, Dee, and Kai all bore panicked expressions on their faces, not knowing what to do.

"Don't panic, Mordecai," Falkner said steadily. "Now's a time to show Janine what your three heads are capable of. Use Tri Attack, rapid fire! Mohr, fire into the left side of the stadium. Dee, cover the right side, and Kai, fire into the sky!"

I watched in amazement as the whole entire arena became filled with many differently colored energy orbs. I smiled when I noticed that it was now Crobat's turn to panic. In his weakened state, dodging all the various energy orbs was looking to be a very difficult task. He even got hit a few times, and Janine noticed this.

"Crobat, return!" Janine exclaimed, holding out Crobat's Pokeball. As Crobat turned into transparent red energy and disappeared into the capsule, she turned to Bolt and I, who were completely immersed in watching the battle. "Well, Bolt, I was saving you for last, and now it's finally your turn to battle."

"I think it's about time you took a rest too," Falkner said to Mordecai, who was still helplessly stuck in the ground. He held out a Pokeball and pressed its center button, recalling Mordecai. Falkner then turned to me and smiled. "You're finally up, Thunder," he declared, "and you're finally getting a chance to train and sharpen your skills."

"Train hard," I murmured to Bolt as we left our seat on the edge of the rooftop stadium.

"You too," Bolt said softly, walking towards Janine's side of the battlefield as I flew towards Falkner's side.

We had just taken our places and Falkner was just about to call out my first move when, all of a sudden and without warning, the alarm sounded. It was an ear-shattering series of blares that echoed throughout the whole entire building – the kind of alarm that only goes off when something goes really wrong.

"What's going on?" Janine shouted over the din.

"It's the radar room alarm!" Falkner yelled worriedly.

 _Radar room?_ I thought as loudly as I could. _Isn't that where we could receive signals from Lightning's tracking device to monitor his position?_ The sudden realization of what was going on hit me, and I almost screamed out loud. Not waiting for a response, I flew as quickly as I could towards the elevator and jammed my beak on the button, tears beginning to form in my eyes. Falkner, Janine, and Bolt all ran over to me, trying to comfort me.

"Thunder, we don't know what's going on yet," Falkner said over the noise of the alarm, but I could tell that behind his optimistic speech he was extremely worried as well.

"Just calm down," Bolt said as gently as she could. "I know that this is probably very stressful for you, but if there's a problem, you won't solve it by panicking."

"R-r-right," I stammered, taking a few deep breaths as the elevator doors opened and closed behind us as we all piled in. "I've handled sticky situations like this before when I was Flock Leader, and I know that I have to clear my mind and think about a solution. It's just that… I hope Lighting is okay."

Bolt nodded in understanding as the elevator doors opened again to the radar room. Immediately, we all ran over to the large table in the middle of the small room. It contained a rather large radar screen, on which red words were flashing. Unlike Lightning, I couldn't read, but I could tell from Falkner's expression that the flashing red words were not a good sign.

"Not good," Falkner whispered.

 _What happened?_ I asked, holding back my tears.

"We've... we've lost Lightning's signal."

 _To be continued…_


	21. Chapter 20

My heart raced, my body shivered with fear, and I tried hard not to scream as I processed the information I had just received. Lightning's tracking device was supposed to give off a signal that would tell Falkner where he was. And now, that signal was lost. This could only mean one thing: something had happened to Lightning in the Ilex Forest. And it wasn't good at all.

 _We've got to go to the Ilex Forest – right now,_ I declared anxiously. _Something bad has happened to Lightning, and we've got to rescue him._

"That's right," Falkner murmured, "but all our Pokemon are hurt and in no shape to fight an enemy." He turned to Janine. "Let's hurry to the Pokemon Center and get everyone to perfect health. Then, Starlight can teleport us to Ilex Forest."

 _But Lightning could be in great danger,_ I thought. _What if, by the time we finish all our preparations, it's too late to save him?_

"I have an idea," Janine declared. "Falkner, can you send out Starlight?"

"But Starlight's fainted," Falkner murmured.

"She may not be able to battle, but she might still be able to teleport," Janine explained.

"Gotcha," Falkner said, nodding as he pulled out Starlight's Dream Ball and tossed it into the air. As the Natu materialized in a flash of purple light, I could see that she was conscious but quite weak.

"Hey, Starlight," Falkner said, crouching down, "I know you're tired, but do you think you have enough energy to teleport? We can heal you after you're done."

To this, Starlight nodded.

Falkner stood up. "All right, everyone. Here's the plan," he said, addressing everyone in the radar room. "First, Starlight will teleport Thunder and Bolt to the Ilex Forest. Next, Starlight will teleport back here. Then, Janine and I will heal our Pokemon. While we do that, Thunder and Bolt will try to find out what's happened to Lightning. Finally, after Janine and I heal our Pokemon, Starlight will teleport Janine and I to the Ilex Forest."

 _That's a great plan,_ I thought. _All right, Starlight, can you teleport now?_

"Sure thing," Starlight chirped.

Bolt and I nodded. I put my wing on Starlight's forehead, Bolt put her front paw on Starlight's body, and we all closed our eyes. Immediately, I felt the strange, peculiar sensation of teleportation. A few seconds later, the sensation was gone just as quickly as it came.

I slowly opened my eyes, still feeling a little dizzy. Lush green trees surrounded me, and their leaves grew so densely that they almost completely blocked out the sunlight. Under my feet was some soft green moss, and I could see flowers and grasses here and there. Ilex Forest looked exactly the same as when I had visited last time.

"Good luck, you two," Starlight chirped before disappearing in a flurry of sparkles.

Bolt turned to me. "Should we split up?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Whatever got Lightning might get us," I murmured. "I think it would be best if we stayed together."

Bolt nodded in understanding as we began to quietly search Ilex Forest for any signs of Lightning. A few minutes later, we spotted a fairly large bush in the middle of a large clearing.

Bolt tensed. "I can sense… electricity," she murmured. "It's coming from that bush over there."

"Are you sure about that?" I asked. The bush looked completely harmless, and I could neither see nor hear an electric current.

"I'm positive," Bolt said gravely. "Stay here and I'll go investigate."

I nodded as Bolt carefully padded to the innocent-looking bush and walked in a circle around it, sniffing it here and there. Then she gasped.

"Thunder, this isn't a bush at all," she reported. "Can you use Gust on it so we can see what it really is?"

"Right," I said, launching into the air. "You might want to get behind me, though."

Bolt nodded and got out of the way. When I was certain that she was out of range, I took a deep breath and flapped my wings with all my might. The resulting Gust attack buffeted the bush, and one by one leaves blew out of the way. Pretty soon, the clearing was filled with small green leaves, tumbling in the wind.

When all the leaves were blown off the bush, I gasped when I realized that the bush was actually one of Katrina's evil electric cages, only covered with leaves to the point that it appeared to be a harmless bush. And inside that cage, Lightning lay unconscious and scarred, the tracker around his neck missing.

I didn't let the sight of this stop me, however. Narrowing my eyes, I flapped my wings harder and faster until the wind screamed through the forest clearing. With a loud clang, the electric cage fell over to its side, freeing Lightning. Only then did I cease my Gust attack and land on the ground.

I hopped forward, Bolt following close behind me, and leaned over Lightning to examine him. "He's poisoned," I murmured worriedly as I spotted the purplish tint on his face.

"Poisoned?" Bolt asked. "But that doesn't make any sense. Katrina's electric cages cause paralysis, not poison."

I shuddered. "There's only one explanation for this," I said softly. "Katrina must have used her Golbat to badly hurt Lightning and poison him. Then, Katrina destroyed Lightning's tracker and imprisoned him in this cage."

"Thunder, you've got to be careful," Bolt said suddenly. "I think this is a trap."

I tensed. "You think Katrina captured Lightning and destroyed his tracker to lure me here, right?"

"Right," Bolt murmured seriously. "Listen, Thunder, you've got to get out of here right now. As you probably know already, Katrina has wanted to capture you for ages, so –"

"No," I interrupted, shaking my head. "Whatever happens, I can't leave Lightning like this." I swallowed, hoping Bolt would understand. "I have to keep Lightning safe, at all costs."

Bolt hesitated and nodded. "All right," she said softly. "I understand what you mean. I'll look around really quickly and get some berries, and you make sure Lightning's okay. If anything goes wrong, don't be afraid to call for me."

"Sure thing," I said as Bolt trotted into the thick trees and disappeared.

My heart ached as I turned to Lightning. He was poisoned and badly wounded, so I immediately began to make him as comfortable as possible. Spotting a pile of leaves nearby, I gently dragged him to the temporary bed and ran my beak through his matted, rumpled feathers. I was grooming Lightning's upper back when Bolt returned with a mouthful of Sitrus, Oran, Cheri, and Pecha berries.

"Thank you so much. That's just what I need," I said gratefully as Bolt set down the berries in front of Lightning. Immediately, I hopped over to the berries, picked up an Oran Berry by its stem, and gently placed the fruit into Lightning's open beak.

"Berries…" Lightning murmured weakly as the Oran Berry touched his tongue. He swallowed it, and his eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Thunder? Is that you?" Lightning said softly, his gaze resting on me. "You came back…"

"Yes," I said, nodding as I fed him a Sitrus Berry.

Lightning swallowed the berry gratefully. "But I thought you were going back to Viridian Forest forever," he said quietly, his voice cracking slightly.

"Of course not," I said reassuringly. I blushed. "Because… I…" I sighed. I couldn't do it, not now. "Here, have a Pecha Berry. It'll help with the poison."

"Thanks," Lightning murmured as he gobbled it down. Now that he had enough strength, he heaved himself up and feasted on the rest of the berries. By the time he was done, he looked completely healthy again.

"Thank you so much, Thunder," Lightning said gratefully, his eyes shining. "Thanks for coming back and rescuing me."

"You're… you're welcome," I stammered, unable to meet his gaze. "What happened, anyways?"

Lightning sighed. "I was just flying over Ilex Forest, on my way back to Violet City," he explained. "But then, out of nowhere, something slammed into me and plowed me onto the forest floor. I'm not sure what hit me, but that attack did a lot of damage.

"I tried to get up and face my attacker, but before I could do anything, this Golbat chomped down on my shoulder with sharp, glowing purple fangs. I'm not completely sure what happened after that, but before I lost consciousness, I think Nature Hunter K removed my tracker."

"Bolt and I think Katrina destroyed your tracker so that I could be lured here," I murmured. "Do you know where Katrina is right now?"

"Katrina? Who's Katrina?" Lightning asked, confused. "If you mean Nature Hunter K, I don't think she's here right now."

"Yes, I mean Nature Hunter K," I said softly. "Listen, Lightning. Nature Hunter K's real name is Katrina, and she is actually Falkner's long-lost older sister. And thanks to Falkner and Bolt here, who used to be Katrina's Pokemon, I found out that there's more to Katrina than meets the eye."

"I figured Thunder was in trouble when she was imprisoned on Katrina's blimp," Bolt added. "so I decided to help her. First, I helped her escape. And once we got back to Violet City, Falkner and I explained to Thunder exactly why Katrina wanted so badly to capture her."

"Would you mind telling me the whole story?" Lightning asked, curious.

"It's a long story," I sighed, "but one worth knowing about." I then proceeded to tell Lightning everything I knew about my pursuer – from her jealousy of Falkner to her pursuit of power to her insatiable desire to obtain a Pidgeot better than her brother's.

I was explaining Natures to Lightning when Bolt suddenly screamed, "Thunder, behind you! Look out!"

I whirled around just in time to see a metal sphere hurtling towards me at a breakneck pace. Immediately, I knocked it away with a good Steel Wing attack.

 _Katrina, I know you're in there,_ I thought angrily, narrowing my eyes at the dense forest. _What do you want from me? Show yourself!_

From the trees came an abrupt command. "I don't care that you know my real name, Pidgeot! Skarmory, Golbat, Gyarados, Charizard, and Fearow! Attack them now, and show no mercy!"

The clearing, which until now had been silent save for the wind in the trees, suddenly erupted into chaos as Pokemon after Pokemon emerged from the bushes and attacked. Katrina's Fearow, her newest Pokemon, dove down towards Lightning, spinning around like a drill. Sharpclaw the Skarmory charged at me, cloaked in a bright blue light, as Iceheart the Gyarados dove towards me with her sharp fangs glowing white. Darkfang the Golbat and Firestorm the Charizard opened their massive jaws, preparing to fire off attacks at Bolt.

"Don't worry, Thunder. I'll take care of this," Bolt declared, crackling with yellow electricity. But before she could fire off the Thunderbolt, a red beam of light shot forward from the forest and turned Bolt into transparent red energy as it made contact with the Jolteon. Bolt screamed with anger as she disappeared into the woods.

"No!" I growled, but before I could do anything, Sharpclaw gained on me at a rapid pace. Taking a deep breath, I launched into the air just as Sharpclaw was about to land his Brave Bird attack. I smirked as the Skarmory plowed himself into the ground, but Iceheart was still ready to chomp down on me with her icy fangs. Thinking quickly, I shielded myself with a Steel Wing, and Iceheart's Ice Fang attack clamped down on solid metal.

Iceheart didn't give up, however. She immediately lunged at me again, and I narrowly managed to dodge the cold, sharp fangs. Taking a deep breath, I charged towards the monstrous Gyarados, my body glowing white. Before I could land the Quick Attack, however, I felt a painfully hot blast of fire at my side. I groaned as Firestorm's Flamethrower attack slammed me into a tree trunk.

 _This battle isn't fair,_ I thought desperately as Sharpclaw heaved himself out of the ground and charged at me again. _There are only two of us, and five of them…_

I was about to defend myself with Steel Wing when a loud voice rang out through the clearing.

"Everyone, stop it right now! Katrina, I know you're there, and you're not being fair at all. What do you think you're doing, fighting two Pokemon using five?"

I brightened. The voice belonged to Falkner, which meant that he and Janine had arrived to help us! I got onto my feet, gasping, as Sharpclaw, Iceheart, Darkfang, Firestorm, and Katrina's Fearow turned into transparent red energy and disappeared into the forest.

I watched breathlessly as Katrina's figure slowly emerged from the concealing shadows of the densely growing trees. At the same moment, Falkner and Janine burst into the clearing. Katrina and Falkner locked eyes for what seemed like a long time, and Lightning and I hopped over to Falkner and Janine and stood resolutely beside them. Finally Katrina spoke.

"Fancy meeting you here, brother," she said coolly. "You should know that you are _nothing_ to me. May I ask, why are you interrupting my attempt to catch myself a good-natured Pidgeot?"

"Because I know you won't treat her well," Falkner said steadily, "and you were all too willing to use dirty tricks in your pursuit of her. I'll never let Thunder into the hands of a cruel, cold-blooded person like you!"

"What did you just say?" Katrina asked quietly and dangerously, raising her gloved hand and pointing her electric finger at her brother menacingly. "What dirty tricks are you talking about? I won't let you, of all people, stand in my way! Now get out of here, or-"

 _Don't hurt your younger brother,_ I thought, the Soul Gem around my neck flashing. _I took a deep breath. Katrina, we all know your story, and your jealousy towards Falkner doesn't have to come down to this._ Swallowing, I hopped forward, bracing myself. _It's alright if you want to be the greatest bird Pokemon trainer of all time. But treating your Pokemon not as friends, but as mere tools to achieve your own selfish goals… that isn't right. Pokemon have feelings, you know._

"We can't let you go on like this," Falkner said, clenching his fist in anger.

"Try and stop me, Falkner," Katrina taunted. "I don't care what you or anyone else says. I've lived in your shadow for too long. Once I get my hands on that Adamant-natured Pidgeot, I swear, I will be the greatest, most powerful, and most feared Flying-type trainer of all time. Even if Pokemon do have feelings, caring about their stupid feelings will not help me to win battles and become stronger. To do that, I have to calculate their movesets, train them hard, and use the Pokemon that were hatched with better stats than usual members of their species - Pokemon with good natures."

"That's not the right way to win," Falkner said loudly.

"It's perfectly okay to train them hard," Janine added, "but Pokemon only unlock their true potential when you believe in them!"

Katrina smiled in a sinister way and pulled a sleek blue badge case out of her bag. With a single flick of her finger, Katrina opened the badge case and revealed nineteen small, shimmering emblems of different shapes and colors.

"I didn't need to believe in my Pokemon to get _these_ ," Katrina said coolly, closing the badge case and putting it back in her bag. "There are twenty official Gym Leaders in Johto. I only need eight badges to challenge the Johto League, but, just to prove a point, I battled nineteen Gym Leaders. All nineteen of them have succumbed to my strength. I took each of them down using only one Pokemon." Katrina frowned. "I could totally participate in the Pokemon League Tournament now, but I don't want to do that until I've bested you, Falkner, and put you in your place. You are the last obstacle in my path. But I cannot continue down that path until I obtain a Pidgeot stronger than yours."

 _I'm never going to accept you as my master, Katrina!_ I thought angrily. _I'll never take orders from a cruel, cold-hearted person like you!_

"But Thunder," Katrina said with a smirk, "I have this." I gasped as she pulled a sphere out of her bag. It was purple and white, with two red spots.

Falkner acted quickly. He darted forward and forcefully grabbed his sister's wrist before she could throw the capsule at me.

"Stop it, Katrina," Falkner said steadily. "Just don't."

"Let me _go_ , you little-" She broke off as Janine ran to her in a few graceful bounds and pried the capsule from Katrina's hand while Falkner held it steady.

"I'm not going to let you use this," Janine said determinedly. She placed the purple-and-white capsule on the ground and crushed it with one forceful stomp of her foot.

"Thanks, Jan," Falkner said, gazing at Janine warmly.

"No!" K shouted, consumed by anger. "Do you know how much I had to go through to get that Master Ball? I withdrew my Pokemon because I hoped we could settle this in a civilized manner. But that can't happen now." She reached inside her purse and pulled out several cage-balls. Without any hesitation, she began throwing them.

 _Look out!_ I thought frantically, but K was quicker. One cage-ball struck Lightning, who winced as the electric cage sprung up around him.

"Oh, come on," Lightning grumbled. Then he saw what I saw: Falkner and Janine were trapped in an electric cage as well.

I looked around desperately. There was no way Janine, Falkner, and Lightning could help me now. And Nature Hunter K was throwing a Poke Ball, commanding her Skarmory to attack me with Brave Bird.

As Sharpclaw materialized and dove towards me, I shielded myself with my wings, readying a Steel Wing defense. There was no way I was going down without a fight.

I could barely hear Lightning as the Skarmory plowed into my Steel Wing shield, pushing me backwards into a tree.

"Thunder, fly away!" he called. "K wants to catch you. If you keep battling, you'll get weaker, so just get out of here!"

"I can't leave you here, Lightning," I puffed as I took to the sky, readying a Double-Edge attack. "I can't let you, Janine, and Falkner get hurt!" I charged forward with all of my power and plowed into Sharpclaw's solid steel body. The Skarmory hardly flinched.

"Katrina, stop it!" Falkner shouted, trapped in his and Janine's electric cage. "You can't capture Thunder and treat her as a tool!"

"Of course I can," K said coolly. "You can't stop me now. Skarmory, Brave Bird!"

The large metal bird folded its wings and dove towards me again. I flew upwards, trying to avoid the attack, but Sharpclaw simply followed me. I took a direct hit.

"Argh!" I groaned as I lost my balance and began falling towards the ground. I flapped my wings hard to regain my balance, and began using a Gust attack.

 _Lightning! Falkner! Janine!_ I thought as the gale tore through the clearing. _I'm freeing you guys, okay?_

"Thanks!" Falkner shouted as the electric cage surrounding himself and Janine fell to the ground, toppled by my Gust attack. "Look out!"

 _What?_ I thought, but then Katrina commanded Sharpclaw to attack me with Brave Bird again. The attack grazed me as I flew out of the way.

"Gyarados! Charizard! Fearow!" K called, throwing three Poke Balls into the air. She pointed at Falkner, Janine, and Lightning as the three Flying-types materialized. "Do whatever you can to make sure those guys stay out of my way."

"Seriously, Katrina?" Janine yelled. "You're not being fair!" She jumped out of the way of Firestorm's Flamethrower. I watched despairingly as Iceheart, Firestorm, and Katrina's Fearow closed in on my friends and began attacking them.

"Golbat!" K exclaimed, throwing another Poke Ball towards me. "You and Skarmory, _get the gem_!"

"What?!" Lightning, Janine, Falkner, and I shouted simultaneously. I didn't have any time to think, though, as Katrina's Golbat materialized. As Darkfang and Sharpclaw dove towards me, I lost track of how Falkner, Janine, and Lightning were faring - I vaguely saw the Mordecai and Janine's Crobat were battling, but I was more focused on avoiding K's Pokemon.

I flew around the clearing as quickly as I could. I knew that I had the option to fly away from Ilex Forest as fast as possible, but I wasn't going to leave my friends behind. So I charged towards Darkfang in a Double-Edge attack.

I was surprised when the Golbat didn't even attempt to get out of the way, and when I realized that something was up, it was too late. At the last moment, just as the attack was about to hit, Darkfang flew downwards and clamped her massive jaw on the Soul Gem. With a sharp tug, the string snapped, and the Golbat tossed the gem to Katrina, who caught it. She looked around, saw that her Charizard was using a Flamethrower attack, and tossed the gem into the path of the flames.

 _No!_ I thought as the Soul Gem incinerated in the Fire-type's blazing attack. The gem was gone, which meant that I could no longer communicate with humans. With a cold dread I realized that that was the reason why Katrina destroyed it. She wanted to prevent me from communicating my wishes with Falkner, Janine, and other humans.

Lightning, Falkner, and Janine were still kept busy by Katrina's Pokemon, but Janine saw what had happened and shouted angrily at K, "That was Thunder's gem! She needed it to communicate with humans!"

"Too bad," Katrina said with a shrug. Then she pointed at me. "Golbat, use Poison Fang! Skarmory, make sure Golbat's attack lands."

With a screech, Darkfang flew towards me, her jaws opened wide and her fangs glowing purple. I readied a Steel Wing and got ready to attack the Golbat with it, but Sharpclaw, with his own Steel Wing attack, knocked me aside. Dazed, I tried to balance myself, but at that moment Darkfang's jaws sank into my back. I could feel the poison beginning to seep through my body as I fell to the ground with a groan.

"Ultra Ball, go!" Katrina shouted, throwing a round capsule at me.

Falkner turned his head and saw what was happening. "No!" he exclaimed.

The Ultra Ball hit my head. I could feel a strange warmth as I became nothing but transparent red energy.

I could feel myself slipping into Poke Ball Mode - the semi-conscious state Pokemon enter when they are inside Poke Balls. My world went black, and I could feel myself getting smaller and smaller as the walls of the Ultra Ball captured me. The Ultra Ball fell to the ground.

One shake. K was trying to capture me.

Two shakes. I could break free. I could get out. I couldn't accept K as my master! I tried to fight the Poke Ball with a Double-Edge attack, but I felt frozen in place.

Three shakes. Vaguely, I was aware of shouting. I felt as if all of my energy was gone. It was the poison. I was exhausted, oh, so exhausted. I couldn't do it. I couldn't get out.

 _Click._

 _To be continued…_


	22. Chapter 21

**A/N: This is the last chapter of _Broken Promise_ I have written, so the next chapter won't come until I've finished writing it and posting it on SPPf. Until then, I will post the other fics I have posted on SPPf.**

* * *

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~_  
 _~~~Lightning~~~_

The Fearow's Fury Attack hit me squarely, and I winced as the Beak Pokemon's sharp bill pummeled my body.

"Lightning!" I heard Falkner call from behind me. "Use Roost!"

I gladly obliged, landing on the ground. My body glowed as energy flowed into me, and when I took to the air again, I felt refreshed and ready to continue battling.

Katrina's Fearow dove towards me again, and I waited for a command from Falkner. But my trainer was busy commanding Mordecai to use Tri Attack to fight off K's Gyarados. In that moment of hesitation, the Fearow's Fury Attack landed.

I took the successive attacks and then, without Falkner's command, used Agility - I figured that a bit of extra speed would help me avoid attacks and confuse my opponent. I flew quickly from one point to another, and I smirked when I found out that my plan was working - Katrina's Fearow was looking around, confused. I saw Falkner look up at me and the Fearow, somewhat flustered by everything that was going on around him.

"Lightning, Quick Attack!" he called.

I readied the attack, agreeing wholeheartedly with my trainer - Quick Attack was the most logical course of action in this situation. I charged forward, only to reel in surprise as I heard Katrina call, "Pokemon, return!"

The Fearow turned into transparent red energy and disappeared. I looked around, confused, and found out that all of Katrina's Pokemon had been recalled. The edge of the clearing was charred and rumpled from the battle, but K's Pokemon were gone.

"Katrina," Falkner said as he walked towards his sister, "thank you for recalling your Pokemon. I knew you had the sense to settle this civilly."

I landed next to Falkner as he stood and faced his sister. Then I realized something. Thunder was gone… she was nowhere to be seen. A cold dread enveloped me.

"Wait a second," Janine said as she and her Pokemon stood next to Falkner. "Where did Thunder go?"

K smirked, but didn't say anything. We all waited in apprehension. I was getting a very, very bad feeling.

" _My_ Adamant-natured Pidgeot is in an Ultra Ball in my PC," Katrina said coolly. "I caught it in an Ultra Ball, and now it is mine. My team is complete."

"NO!" Falkner, Janine, and I shouted in unison.

My heart felt like it had been crushed. It wasn't possible. Thunder, who was so strong and brave, was _caught_? But it made sense… K must have called her Gyarados, Fearow, and Charizard to distract Janine, Falkner, and me while she used her dirty tricks to battle and capture Thunder. Ultra Balls worked better than regular Poke Balls, and Thunder was not strong enough to break free of the capsule.

I sank to the ground in despair as I realized what this meant. Thunder now belonged to Katrina, and would have to follow the cold-hearted trainer's orders. Katrina would use Thunder as a tool to advance her selfish agenda, and unless she had a change of heart, I would never see her again…

"Wait," Falkner said, his voice shaking. "You could be lying. Prove it. Prove that Thunder is indeed yours."

"I gladly will," K said coolly. "Like I said, now that I finally own a Pidgeot that is better than yours, my team is complete. And because my team is complete, I can now battle you for my last badge and finally prove that I am better than you. And after I finally earn a Zephyr Badge, I will challenge the Pokemon League and be hailed as the most powerful Flying-type trainer of all time."

"You won't become respected unless you learn to treat your Pokemon well," Falkner said. I could see that he was struggling to keep his cool. "And besides, you never answered my question - where is Thunder? What did you do to her?"

"I can show you," Katrina said, "as long as you agree to battle me. Your six strongest Pokemon against my perfect team of six good-natured Flying-type Pokemon. Battle me, and if I win, you owe me a Zephyr Badge, and I will prove to you that my training methods are superior."

"And if you lose?" Falkner asked. "If you lose against me, you _will_ change your cruel ways, right? And release Thunder so that she can pursue her goals?"

"I'll consider it," K said. "But don't worry; I won't lose." She ran a hand through her blue hair. "So. Violet Gym, tomorrow morning at ten? That should give the both of us time to heal our Pokemon and prepare for the battle."

"Falkner, you can't let your sister continue her ways," Janine said, grabbing Falkner's arm. "You can't risk losing this battle. Isn't there another way? Can't we report Katrina's actions to the police?"

Falkner shook his head. "She technically hasn't done anything wrong, so she can't be arrested," he said, throwing his hands up into the air. "There's no proof that she did anything unlawful - she's been treating her Pokemon as tools, sure, but there's no evidence of abuse so it's not against the law."

"Dang it," Janine sighed. She eyed Falkner steadily. "So you _have_ to win this battle. That's our only hope of changing Katrina's ways, and letting Thunder continue on her quest to find Ash."

At the sound of Thunder's name, I sighed and let out a sad squawk. The love of my life was now under K's control, and unless the Nature Hunter had a change of heart, Thunder's quest to find Ash was over.

"Lightning," Falkner said sympathetically, crouching down and giving me a hug. "You've got to promise to give it your all in the battle against Katrina tomorrow. For me, and for Thunder. Winning the battle is our only chance of getting Thunder back."

I closed my eyes and got back onto my feet. I looked at my wonderful trainer, this person who was ready to give his all for the love of Flying-type Pokemon.

"I will," I said, nodding.

"That's great," Falkner said warmly, giving me another hug. He stood up tall and faced Katrina resolutely. "Tomorrow morning at ten in the Violet Gym," he said. "Let's battle."

 _~~~~Alternative Point of View:~~~~  
_ _~~~End~~~_

I was in Poke Ball Mode - a semi-conscious slumber. Vaguely, I was aware that I was in some kind of box.

Warmth and comfort enveloped me as a voice spoke in my head. I had no idea of where the voice was coming from. It sounded a bit like Katrina's voice, but different enough to not exactly be the voice of the Nature Hunter.

 _You can have it all,_ the voice said. _You are a good-natured Pidgeot, and you can have the thrill of victory and the glory of power if you just obeyed Nature Hunter K._

I listened. I could feel my energy returning to me. I wasn't sure how to communicate with the soothing, compelling voice, so I decided to just listen to what it had to say.

 _Obey,_ the hypnotic voice continued. _Obey K's orders, and everything will be easier for you. You want to battle, right? Obey K's orders, and you will have good, thrilling battles for the rest of your life._

I could feel my self-awareness, my autonomy, slipping away. It made me feel scared and alarmed.

 _So this is what it feels like to be a Pokemon used for evil or selfishness,_ I thought. _I didn't feel like this when Ash captured me. I always wondered how Pokemon could willingly follow their masters' evil orders. Now I know that it's not always willingly…_

It would be easy, so easy, to give in to the voice, lose part of my soul, and follow Nature Hunter K's orders. But then I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and I knew why. Lightning, Falkner, Ash…

Then I remembered why I never wanted to be Nature Hunter K's POkemon, and my feelings of revulsion towards her came back.

 _No!_ I thought. _I know what kind of person Nature Hunter K is, and I will not obey her!_

 _What?_ the voice sounded. _But… you're K's Pokemon. She caught you in an Ultra Ball. She's your trainer, and you will have to obey her. That is what Pokemon do - obey their trainers._

The voice was so compelling that I had to agree with it. _That is what Pokemon do,_ I thought. And with that thought, I began to rapidly lose consciousness, more rapidly than before, With the loss of consciousness also came the loss of awareness and autonomy. I could feel myself slipping away, losing the mental battle. It was easy - so easy.

But it wasn't _right_. My heart ached for Lightning.

 _NO!_ I thought forcefully, wrenching control back from the hypnotic voice. _Pokemon do not have to obey their trainers if they really don't want to! I know! Ash's Charizard doesn't obey his trainer!_ I breathed deeply. My head was getting clearer. _And I will not obey Katrina._

 _Why?_ the hypnotic voice asked. _Why wouldn't you-_

 _Many reasons,_ I thought, not wanting the voice to get a word in edgewise for fear that I would lose consciousness again. _Firstly, Katrina is a cruel trainer who does not treat her Pokemon well. Secondly, if I went with Katrina, I would never be able to see Falkner or Lightning again. And I need them both in my life. Thirdly, I am on a quest here, to find my trainer, Ash Ketchum._

 _Lightning or Ash,_ the voice sounded. _Pick one. You can't have both._

This caught me off-guard. _What?_ I thought.

 _Lightning is inseparable from Falkner,_ the voice explained. _The two of them share a strong bond and have been together for a very long time. It was difficult for Falkner to battle and run the gym without him. Lightning belongs with Falkner. If you find Ash and become his Pokemon again, your chances of seeing Lightning regularly are very slim._

Those words hit me like a punch in the gut. I hadn't thought about that before. When I asked for Lightning's help on my quest to find Ash, I never expected our journey to take so long or to bind us together. Lightning now had such a special place in my heart, and I knew that I couldn't bear to lose him. I just couldn't.

 _Ash is a traveller,_ the voice continued. _He is always intent on going to the next city, the next gym, the next region. You have no idea how long it will take you to find Ash - it may take years, and even if you did find him, you would still lose Lightning. Lightning's destiny is to be with Falkner. He won't be able to travel with you for much longer._

 _I'm Ash's Pokemon,_ I thought, confused. _He promised that he'd come back…_ And then I realized that now I knew exactly why Ash never came back to the Viridian Forest to fetch me. It was because he was the kind of person to always look forward, not back. Once he got his shiny Noctowl, going back to the Viridian Forest to fetch me was probably the last thing on his mind, what with the excitement of the Johto league and beyond to keep him busy.

 _Lightning or Ash,_ the voice repeated. _You can't have both. Of course, you can make everything easier for yourself if you just obeyed Nature Hunter K._

 _I will never obey her,_ I thought resolutely. _No matter what._

 _You are indeed very adamant,_ the voice said. _Your willpower is astounding. It seems that I can no longer get through to you or force you to obey Nature Hunter K._

 _Good,_ I thought.

There was silence. I felt tired, and though my eyes were closed, I wasn't asleep. I dared not to lose vigilance, however, for fear that Katrina's Ultra Ball would capitalize on my loss of consciousness and forcefully strip me of my autonomy.

Though I was still halfway between sleep and wakefulness, I was aware of my Ultra Ball moving. I quickly deduced that Katrina was retrieving me from her Pokemon Storage System. The movement outside continued, and I guessed that Katrina wanted to go to a quiet place to train me and see what I could do.

 _Only I won't obey you, Katrina,_ I thought triumphantly as my Ultra Ball bounced in Katrina's bag as she ran.

My surroundings were changing as Katrina made her way to her training ground. I guessed that she was going to test out my moves either at Ilex Forest or in the woods close to Violet City. The latter made more sense to me, considering that Katrina had probably challenged her younger brother to a gym battle at Violet Gym shortly after capturing me.

Minutes passed. Though I was still in Katrina's bag, I guessed that K had landed her blimp in Ilex Forest and was going to use it to fly to Violet City. If that was the case, it was going to take a while to get to the training area. It didn't matter - I wasn't going to obey Katrina anyways. Whether she let me out of this Ultra Ball now or a year later, I wasn't going to listen to K's orders. She would release me in frustration upon finding out that I was disobedient, and I could find Lightning and Falkner again.

 _Lightning and Falkner,_ I thought, remembering what the hypnotic voice had said. I could have Lightning and Falkner, or I could have Ash - I couldn't have both. I sighed. Why did life have to be so hard? If only I could be Ash's Pokemon, and still see Lightning and Falkner regularly. But I knew that that wasn't possible.

 _Lightning or Ash. You can't have both._

I would decide on that later. For now, there were more pressing matters to deal with: not obeying Katrina. Whether I went with Falkner or Ash, I knew that there was no way I was going to obey Nature Hunter K.

* * *

"Pidgeot!" Nature Hunter K exclaimed, throwing my Ultra Ball into the air.

My eyes opened as the Ultra Ball released me as a burst of white light. Finally, I was out of that Ultra Ball. I hovered in midair and looked around, finding out that it was afternoon. I was in a nice forest, and I could see Violet City - Sprout Tower, Gym and all - in the distance. Now I was in a medium-sized clearing that was surrounded by woods.

"Pidgeot," Katrina called, and I landed on the ground to face my new trainer. I eyed her steadily, hoping to convey an aura of confidence.

"Show me what you can do," K said. She pointed at a bush at the edge of the clearing. "Use Gust on that bush!"

She had given me a command. My instinct was to follow it - after all, that is what Pokemon do. I was about to take off when I remembered my resolution to not obey Nature Hunter K. So instead of following her order, I turned around, closed my eyes, and stuck my beak up into the air as a sign of disrespect.

"What?" Katrina gasped, obviously surprised that her Adamant-natured Pidgeot was not obeying her orders. "Pidgeot, I said, us Gust!"

I continued to stand where I stood, fighting the initial urge to obey.

"You've gotta be able to do _something_ ," Katrina said, panic rising in her voice. "I've seen you use Steel Wing before. Steel Wing attack, go!"

To this, I let myself flop onto the ground on my side and close my eyes as if to sleep. It was getting easier to ignore my instinct to follow orders. I turned, tucking my head under my wing.

"Steel Wing!" Katrina repeated. Once again, I did not respond.

"Pidgeot!" K yelled, obviously getting quite frustrated. "Listen to me! I commanded you to use an attack, and you should use that attack! Now, show me your Double-Edge!"

I continued to pretend that I was fast asleep and ignored the order.

"Sand-Attack?" Katrina said, her voice shrill. When I didn't respond, K stomped around the clearing, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Pidgeot," she growled, her gaze piercing me. "You are a perfect, Adamant-natured Pidgeot! You were the last thing I needed to be better than Falkner! If you don't obey me, I will never be better than Falkner!" She crouched down and glared into my eyes. "I'm not your friend, and you're not mine. But you'd better obey me, or you'll be _sorry_."

 _What will you do?_ I thought lazily, looking away from Katrina's piercing gaze. _Abuse me and be cruel to me if I don't follow your orders?_ Then a cold dread enveloped me. Nature Hunter K was certainly not above cruelty, and I knew that she could certainly make my life miserable if I didn't follow her orders. I needed to get out of here, and _fast_.

"I need to be stronger than Falkner," K growled, standing up. "I need to be the strongest Flying-type trainer in the world! So you will obey me, Pidgeot! Use Double-Edge!"

I bolted upright and took off into the air, away from Katrina. I readied a Double-Edge attack, cloaking my body with white energy. Then I charged upwards into the sky. When the glow of the attack faded, however, I did not stop flying. I continued flying higher and higher, away from Katrina.

"Pidgeot, come back!" K called as I broke through the treetops. I ignored her and kept flying, towards Violet Gym.

Then red energy surrounded me. K was trying to recall me into her Ultra Ball! But I wasn't going to go back in there, where that hypnotic voice would return and try to get me to give up my autonomy.

 _I'm… not… going… in!_ I thought forcefully as I beat my wings harder. But I could feel myself dissolving into transparent red energy. The pull of the Ultra Ball was too strong. Grumbling to myself, I slipped into Poke Ball Mode again as I re-entered K's Ultra Ball.

This time, my time in Poke Ball Mode was brief. I had barely lost consciousness when the capsule was hurled forward again and I opened my eyes. This time, I immediately stretched my wings and began flying towards the canopy of the forest, only for the Ultra Ball to recall me again.

Once again, I barely spent any time in Poke Ball Mode, as Katrina called me out. But once again, I turned tail and fled. There was no way I was going to stay near Nature Hunter K if I could help it. Once again, however, K recalled me.

This cycle of recall, sending out, trying to escape, and recall again continued until one time, as K tried to recall me, I decided to try a Double-Edge attack. Cloaking myself with energy, I charged forward just as I was beginning to be turned into transparent red energy.

And this time, I did not enter Poke Ball Mode.

I cheered with delight and used Double-Edge several more times, flying towards Violet Gym as I continued avoiding the Ultra Ball's recall beam. Pretty soon, I couldn't pinpoint where Nature Hunter K was at all, and I was on full course to Violet Gym.

I flew as fast as I could, not daring to slow down for fear that K would capture me again. Pretty soon, I spotted Falkner, Janine, and Lightning standing together on the rooftop battlefield atop Violet Gym.

"Lightning!" I called with joy. "Falkner! Janine!"

"Thunder?!" Lightning exclaimed in disbelief.

"Thunder, is that you?" Falkner asked, disbelief also in his voice.

"Guys, it's me," I gasped as I landed next to Lightning and nuzzled against him. I could feel him blush, and I faced Falkner and Janine.

"K is after me, and she's really mad," I said quickly, not caring that Falkner and Janine could not understand me. "I need somewhere to hide for the night."

"Right," Lightning said quickly, guiding me to the elevator and pressing the button with his beak. "We'll get you to the indoor forest."

"Lightning," Falkner called, "Thunder needs somewhere to hide from Katrina, right?"

"Yeah," Lightning said, nodding.

"Let's all go down to the indoor forest, then," Janine suggested, glancing at Falkner, who nodded. Lightning and I nodded as well, and when the elevator doors opened, Janine, Falkner, Lightning, and I dashed in.

My heart rate began to slow down as the elevator descended down the tower. To Lightning I said, "Thanks for helping me. K is still trying to get me back, and I hope I'll be safe here."

"You will be, I promise," Lightning said warmly, running his beak through my plume.

I leaned against him, letting him groom me, as the elevator reached the floor with the indoor forest and opened up its doors. Seeing that forest felt like heaven after all I'd been through with Katrina and her Ultra Ball. With no reserve, I flew forward and plunged happily into the branches of the nearest artificial tree. I perched on the tree's largest limb, sighing contentedly.

"Hey," Lightning said as he landed next to me. "You look happy."

"I just broke free of Nature Hunter K's control," I said. "Of course I'm happy."

"Wow," Lightning said, impressed. "How did you do that?"

I laughed and sighed. "It's a long story," I said truthfully. "I'm completely beat now."

"Then you should rest," Lightning said, giving me some space.

"Thunder, Lightning," Falkner called, "I'd hate to break up your reunion, but I need Lightning here. We need to discuss our strategy for tomorrow. Thunder, you can stay where you are, since you're not my Pokemon, but if you want you can join in."

"Got it," Lightning said, and flew over to Falkner and Janine.

 _Tomorrow,_ I thought, suddenly feeling exhausted. I decided to take a rest for now and deal with everything tomorrow. I closed my eyes, knowing that I was safe. My battle with the Nature Hunter may have been over. But Falkner's battle with his sister had just begun.

As I drifted off to sleep, I wished him luck.

 _To be continued…_


End file.
